Mikel Arteta rued his Arsenal side's lack of effective game management but denied his team are bottling their chance at a first Premier League title in nearly 20 years after their 2-2 slip up at the London Stadium against struggling West Ham United.
When asked at the post-match presser if the pressure of the title race had affected his young side, Arteta was keen to dismiss such a notion. "I would say yes if I saw a team playing from the beginning like *tenses and holds his breath*. When I see a team playing with that flow, that’s not. At 2-0 certainly it’s not the pressure, it’s that we misunderstood what the game needed in that moment."
The Gunners had led 2-0 inside the opening 10 minutes as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard put the league leaders in a commanding position in East London, before Lucas Paqueta was awarded a hotly-contested penalty which Said Benrahma made no mistake in converting, sending Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to slot it into the bottom corner.
The same couldn't be said of Bukayo Saka, who blazed his own spot kick chance wide of the upright in the 52nd minute - following a handball by Michael Antonio - and it was to prove costly as just moments later Jarrod Bowen struck a dramatic equaliser that sent the Hammers fans wild.
It's the second time in a week that Arsenal have surrendered a two-goal lead away from home after Bobby Firmino's last-gasp leveller at Anfield and it's a result that leaves them with a mountain to climb in this title race. They still hold a four point lead over Man City, having played a game more, and their next game sees them host Southampton at the Emirates before they travel to the Etihad for that mouth-watering top-of-the-table clash with their title rivals.
The rest of their run-in includes home games against Chelsea, high-flying Brighton and away trips to Newcastle and Nottingham Forest before the final weekend of this pulsating season where they'll host Wolves.
