Mikel Arteta said his Arsenal side needed reinforcements in January as they lost further ground on league leaders Liverpool after losing a two-goal advantage to Aston Villa.
Arsenal led 2-0 after 55 minutes at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz, but were damaged again by former head coach Unai Emery as Villa fought back to claim a point.
As Arsenal bosses worked hard to sign another striker this month, Arteta admitted after the match that his side were “very short” of options. Arsenal have seven players missing due to injury and had three academy players on their bench against Villa.
The Arsenal manager also compared his situation to that of Liverpool, who secured a late victory against Brentford after substitute Darwin Núñez scored twice after coming off the bench.
“Obviously, they managed to do it [find the winning goals]”, said Arteta of Liverpool. “They made the substitutes and the substitutes had an impact, and they managed to change the game. And from our side it was the opposite.
Arteta insisted he was “incredibly proud” of his side’s dominant performance against Villa, given the physical load that has been placed on his available players in recent weeks, but also admitted Arsenal won’t couldn’t compete for titles if they continued to make sloppy defensive errors.
Right-back Thomas Partey was responsible for Villa’s second goal after losing sight of striker Ollie Watkins in the penalty area.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team,” Arteta said. “I think it was a huge performance. I can’t be more proud of it [but] defending like we did, for one of the goals in particular, that can’t be part of our game if we want to be at the highest level in this country.
Arsenal briefly thought they had found a late winner when Mikel Merino’s strike deflected into Havertz’s net, but replays showed the ball hit the Arsenal striker on the arm.
The draw means Arsenal have fallen 12 points from winning positions in the Premier League this season, their most in a single campaign in the last five years, although Watkins had sympathy for the team local after seeing a replay of the disallowed goal.
“Seeing him there, I’m not sure,” Watkins told Sky Sports. “If it was against me, I would be a little disappointed. I don’t know, from that point of view I’m not sure. This is what VAR is for. We scored the goal and got a lot of momentum from it. They were quite open and there were opportunities to be had.
“We knew they were going man for man. There were a few moments where I could have done better, I was one-on-one with Gabriel several times. They are always a little open. When I reached my goal, I felt like we had enough time to move forward and score a goal.
“It was about being brave and making more passes. Once we get it down and make a few passes, that’s when you can catch up with them.
Arsenal’s injury crisis has worsened in recent days with the loss of centre-back William Saliba to a hamstring problem. “I think tomorrow we will have more information,” Arteta said. “Without fail [we are worried]. Especially with the numbers we have on the team and looking at our bench. Very worried.
Martinelli insisted Arsenal players still had “confidence” in each other and said there was still a long way to go in the title race.
“It’s a disappointing day,” he said. “We wanted to win the game, but we have to keep going. We have confidence in ourselves and we have to continue and improve. It’s a long journey to travel. We must focus on ourselves.
“That’s football, that’s the Premier League, the toughest league in the world. We know our qualities and we know the potential we have and we have confidence in ourselves.
“The mentality we showed is the mentality we want”
Emery said: “We competed well. Getting anything here is very difficult. Competing like we did is the only way. They controlled and pushed more [earlier on]. We had to defend with force.
“In the second half, we reacted well. The mentality we showed is the mentality we want. We needed the goalkeeper, the defenders. We were always trying transitions. Fantastic work. We are now in good balance. We are fighting with really strong teams. The way we started the second part of the season was good.
Merson slams Partey’s ‘atrocious’ defense
Arsenal great Paul Merson has joined Thomas Partey’s criticism for his “atrocious” defending following his costly lapse in concentration for Villa’s equalizer.
“I would be shocked now if Liverpool didn’t win the championship,” Merson told Sky Sports.
“They shouldn’t have needed that spark, they were 2-0 up and the goal defending, especially Partey’s, is just not good enough. You lead 2-1, they came back into the match, then you have to be solid, you have to hang on, you have to try everything you can, you have to recruit players, and for me it’s too easy.
“If you want to win the Premier League you have to be there every day of the week, every weekend, every game, you have to turn up and make it difficult. When you have your back to goal like Partey on the second goal , it’s atrocious.
“Winning a Premier League or any league is difficult. You have to keep coming week after week. Anyone can win a cup, the draw gets you the FA Cup, the draw gets you the Carabao Cup. But the league is week in, week out, you’ve got to be ready to go out there and defend and make sure he doesn’t score. The two goals, [Mikel] Merino simply leaves [Youri] Tielemans runs past him, then Partey.
“It’s a disappointing day,” admitted Arsenal striker Martinelli. “We wanted to win the game, but we have to keep going.
“We have confidence in ourselves and we have to keep going and improve – it’s a long journey to go.” We must focus on ourselves.
“That’s football, that’s the Premier League, the toughest league in the world.
“We have to see the match and see what we did wrong and improve for the next matches.
“We know our qualities and we know the potential we have and we have confidence in ourselves.”
“Liverpool has that little something extra”
Lee Hendrie, Merson’s co-pundit on Sky Sports, agreed with his colleague’s criticism of Arsenal’s title qualification. “You look at Liverpool today and you think they are going to come away with a point from Brentford, but they have that extra edge to score two goals at the end and probably could have scored three or four.
“But I only look at Arsenal and they don’t have that of Arsenal, can they have a good run?”
“It’s not impossible but I think games like tonight, that’s where you think about seasons where 2-0, at the Emirates at home, you should be comfortable. We sat down and had says it should end…and the Arsenal of old would probably have gone and won 3-0 or 4-0 comfortably.
“Credit to Villa. I thought they were excellent in the first half. They were going to get into it again in the second half, which they did, but to come back from 2-0 down, you can have that mindset that you’re away from home, you’ve got a midweek game coming up, do you sit back and accept defeat? They didn’t, they went on and he made some changes, adjustments, and once you score that next goal you give yourself that opportunity and that’s what they did with Tielemans scoring that first goal for Villa.