Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta insisted his team “didn’t deserve to lose” to Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
John McGinn put the home side ahead in the seventh minute at Villa Park after Leon Bailey ran rings around the visitor’s defence, and managed to hold on for the rest of the game to claim a huge victory.
The Gunners thought they had equalised late on after Eddie Nketiah poked the ball home amidst a goalmouth scramble, but referee Jared Gillett disallowed the goal due to a handball by Kai Havertz.
Following the disappointing result, Arteta insisted his side should’ve gotten something out of the tie. “Really good performance, I thought we were better team and didn’t deserve to lose game at all but this is football,” he told Sky Sports.
The Spaniard continued: “You have to put the ball in the net and that’s the only thing we missed today. We generated some big, big chances, bringing the ball higher up. We still lost the game.”
Arteta said he had a “big opinion” on the handball decision that denied Arsenal an equaliser, but refused to expand on that. In the press conference he simply said it was “clear and obvious”.
The 41-year-old did have praise for Aston Villa, who are only two points off the top of the Premier League table following Saturday’s win. “They are a really good side,” he said.
“They are in a really good moment right now and I congratulate them. That’s what we have to do.”
