Why Arteta was annoyed at the way his team conceded against Leverkusen | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen scored their goal in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal immediately after half-time, leaving Mikel Arteta visibly frustrated.

The Arsenal manager had prepared his side thoroughly for the match and later admitted that, despite anticipating exactly how their opponents might approach the restart, his team were still caught out.

Arteta frustrated by slow reaction

Arteta addressed the issue after the match and acknowledged that his players had been warned about what to expect from the hosts at the start of the second half.

He told reporters, as reported by Sports Illustrated:

“We discussed that at half-time and we expected [them] to start very fast, especially because we knew certain routines that they have on kick-offs, because they had three at the weekend and still, we got caught.

“We weren’t ready enough.”

His comments reflected a sense of disappointment that his side failed to react quickly enough, particularly after detailed preparation for the fixture.

Leverkusen capitalised on that moment immediately after the restart, taking advantage of Arsenal’s lack of sharpness to seize the initiative early in the second half.

Tough test in Germany

Arsenal eventually managed to rescue a draw in what proved to be a demanding contest at the BayArena. The Gunners were pushed close to defeat after Robert Andrich scored with an early second-half header from a corner.

It was a far more difficult encounter than many had expected for the visitors, who had arrived in Germany with confidence but struggled at times to assert control over the game.

Despite their efforts to push forward and find a winning goal, Arsenal were unable to break down a determined Leverkusen side that defended well and competed strongly throughout the match.

The result leaves the tie finely balanced heading into the return leg in north London.

Arsenal will now aim to complete the job at Emirates Stadium, where they remain confident of progressing to the next stage of the competition. However, if they are to advance further in this season’s tournament, they will need to heed their manager’s warning, show greater sharpness and produce a stronger overall performance than they managed in Germany.

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