Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was already angry when his team were beating Aston Villa on Saturday, so his postmatch reaction could’ve been vicious after the Gunners blew a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium.
But he mostly issued fond proclamations about his team’s play, merely acknowledging disappointment in the result.
Arteta was shown his first yellow card of the season early in the Week 22 game, a thriller against former Gunners manager Unai Emery and a Villa team quickly becoming one of the biggest Thorns in the North Londoners’ sides.
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And the dropped points came after Mikel Merino’s hard shot was denied game-winner status by VAR and following Liverpool’s late heroics to take all three points at Brentford.
Arteta has shown a propensity to speak his mind this season, whether red cards he’s never seen before, penalties that fit the same description, or even the balls used in different competitions, but he stayed in shoes this time around.
Gabriel Martinelli, however, seemed subdued… and emotions like that give Arteta a real challenge in keeping his ‘vibes team’ amongst, well, the vibes.
Mikel Arteta reaction — Arsenal boss speaks after Gunners blow 2-goal home lead
On how Arsenal played in the draw: “We were unbelievable again. How dominant we were. How fluid we were. We played three game in six days with almost the same players. So disappointed with the result and how softly we conceded the second goal.”
“We need to get the result. When we do that much, we need to get it over the line.”
On the disallowed late goal: “From one angle he doesn’t, from another it does. It’s okay — the decision is done. We had many other chances we could’ve pulled away with a goal.”
On Myles Lewis-Skelly: “He’s taking his game to a different level — not just the way he plays, but the way he competes.”
Gabriel Martinelli reaction — ‘That’s football’
“It’s a point but of course we wanted to win the game but we have to keep going, keep trying. We trust in ourselves and we have to keep going. It’s a long journey to go, so we have to focus on ourselves.”
“That’s football. That’s the Premier League. It’s the most difficult league in the world and we have to rewatch the game and see what we’ve done wrong and improve for the next games.”
“That’s football. When you play football you know that anything can happen. It’s not a setback, just something we have to take a learn from.”
“We wanted to win the game. We wanted to win the game for our fans and the club as well. We tried our best. Of course we didn’t win but we trust in ourselves.”
“I have to play wherever Mikel tells me to play. Of course I prefer to play on the left, it’s more natural for me but I’ll play anywhere to help the team. Wherever Mikel tells me, I’m going to play.”
