Mikel Arteta has called for his players to tighten up defensively after Arsenal's 2-2 draw away at Sporting CP in the Europa League on Thursday evening. The Gunners took the lead in the tie through William Saliba, but Goncalo Inacio drew the home side level from a corner.
Paulinho then gave his side the lead after sweeping home a finish from a Matt Turner save before the advantage was nullified from a Hidemasa Morita own-goal. It marks yet another game without a clean sheet for the north London outfit, having only kept five since the turn of the year across all competitions.
“The game had different phases because we gave too many simple balls away in our own half and gave them the capacity to [exploit] transition moments, which they are good at," Arteta told reporters after the clash. “In other moments, we had total control of the game and we lost a little bit of threat today, especially with the four players we are missing in our frontline.
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"[There were] Some positives because we showed a lot of resilience to get back in the game, but we need to defend our box much better and be better on Sunday [against Fulham ].”
With a title battle on the cards, it harks back to the old cliché that attacks win games but defences win titles, something the side may have to rely upon for the final few games of the season. The Gunners remain five points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City at this stage, but with some big games on the horizon, they will be hopeful of retaining that buffer.
The defensive issues were also a problem that former Manchester United defender Gary Neville mentioned when discussing the battle ahead. Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast after Arsenal's victory over Bournemouth, he said: “I thought City had a more difficult game [against Newcastle]. They were more likely to drop points in my mind, if anybody - I didn’t think either team would, to be fair. So, City did their job and then you expect Arsenal to go and comfortably win.
"The fact that they’ve won in that way gives them that extra spirit and extra momentum, because it is a game you’d expect them to win 2-0 or 3-0 just because Bournemouth are second from bottom. But they made it really difficult for themselves. They’ve got a real momentum, they've got a spirit building, the fans are with them. I would say to them they’ve got to stop conceding goals.
“It sounds like a really simple thing to say but when you concede goals on a run-in, it’s really tough and they’ve conceded two against Bournemouth, they’ve conceded against Brentford, they’ve conceded against [Manchester] United, [Aston] Villa, City. They’ve conceded quite a few goals - I think 11 in the last eight games. So, they just need to manage that a little bit because they’ve got 12 games to go now. City still aren’t playing at their fluent best. We’ve got a hell of a title race.”
It remains to be seen whether the defensive records will be the key difference between the two teams battling it out at the top of the table, but his backline is something Arteta certainly has to consider tweaking over the next few games if their form continues.
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