Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal ‘lost control’ after his side surrendered a two-goal lead to draw at Liverpool.
Arteta’s side appeared in cruise control after early goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus, but the Gunners dropped points after Liverpool staged a fightback. Mohamed Salah reduced the deficit before half-time, before later missing a penalty to level the scores.
Roberto Firmino’s header earned Liverpool a late point, though the home side had chances to win the game in the final stages as Aaron Ramsdale made brilliant stops from Salah and Ibrahima Konate.
It was a pulsating Premier League clash with end-to-end football and no shortage of incident, with Arteta admitting his team ‘lost control’ in an ‘intense’ game on Merseyside.
“Wow. Very intense game. The game was under control but after that we concede a really sloppy goal and the game shifted momentum,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
“We started well in the first few minutes [of the second half] but then lost control. It became a very transitional game, very chaotic. Liverpool could score three or four. It is true we could have scored two or three so maybe at the end the score is fair.
“I haven’t seen anyone do it [dominate] in this ground this season. They beat every big team here, they played Real Madrid and could have been four up after 20 minutes. They are going to have moments. You need to deal with them and we did. Our goalkeeper had a big part in that.
“We could taken three points. We should do that [play like the first half] for another 15 minutes and then the game would have taken a very different trajectory. We didn’t. We have to take the point.”
Arteta admitted the contest was ‘a great game to watch’ for the neutrals, as the two sides went head-to-head in an action-packed encounter at Anfield.
“I imagine for the outside world it was a great game to watch. We started really well. Just before half-time we conceded and we gave Liverpool some momentum.
“We lost control and started to give a lot of balls away. The game became open. We needed resilience, we needed our keeper in the last moment. I think a draw is a fair result.
“The crowd got going. The goal gave them some hope. At 2-0 we had the game in our hands. That was our chance to kill the game. Then we made a mistake. We had to show our resilience and our luck at times.”
The draw means Arsenal are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, having played a game more than Manchester City. The two teams meet at the Etihad on April 26.
Asked what the result means for the Premier League title race, Arteta said: “Move on. Convince them to keep playing like we did in the first 30 minutes.”
