Arsenal “got punished” against Man United, admits Arteta | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta lamented errors that were “very unlike us” as Arsenal slipped to a 2-3 defeat to Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners took the lead in the first half when Lisandro Martínez turned Martin Ødegaard’s effort into his own net, though Bryan Mbuemo restored parity before the break.

The match burst into life in the second half, with Patrick Dorgu’s thunderous effort putting the visitors ahead for the first time before a late flurry of goalmouth action saw Mikel Merino bag an equaliser – only for Matheus Cunha to then clinch an 87th-minute winner.

“We really struggled” after Mbuemo goal, admits Arteta

Speaking to the media in his post-match press conference at the Emirates Stadium, Arteta wanted to offer “congratulations to Man United for the victory.

“I think we started the game really well. [In] the first half-an-hour we were very dominant, playing the areas that we wanted, scored a goal, had two fantastic chances to score another one.

“After that, we gave them the goal. Errors are part of football, very unlike us, but we gave them the goal and hope, and that shifted the energy, because from then to half-time we really struggled, especially to keep the ball in the right areas after regaining the ball, what we had to do.

“In the second half, they had two brilliant goals, some individual quality, a magic moment in big games, that’s a good example of that, but with the changes I think we managed to shift the energy, score the second goal and you could feel that everything changed and the game was there to go and win it.”

“Today, we got punished”

Asked to reflect on the errors committed during the match, including Martin Zubimendi’s wayward pass that opened up space for Mbuemo’s opener, Arteta explained: “They are part of football.

“Sometimes you get punished and sometimes not. Today we got punished and apart from that, it has to be credit to the opponent for what they’ve done and in the manner that they managed to win the game.

“We have to do more,” he admitted.

“Today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren’t efficient enough against a team that is very well organised and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.”

Arsenal return to action on Wednesday when they host Kairat Almaty in the UEFA Champions League.