Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta watched his side take an early lead but fail to find a second goal before conceding a penalty and dropping points to host Brighton in a 1-1 draw on Saturday.
What many saw as a bang-on penalty left Arteta perplexed in the East Sussex rain, and he was also left to ruminate on the another attacker injury as Ethan Nwaneri left the match at halftime.
The Spaniard would’ve been thrilled to see 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri score a beautiful goal early at the Amex Stadium, as Arsenal remains without Bukayo Saka and started the game with influential playmaker Martin Odegaard on the bench.
MORE — Recap, highlights from Brighton 1-1 Arsenal
But the Gunners were challenged often by Joao Pedro, who fittingly won and converted a penalty after being accidentally head butted by William Saliba in the second half.
Arteta claimed that Saliba touched the ball, but video showed that if there was a touch it was after the French back made solid contact with Pedro’s head, opening a wound on the Seagulls forward.
The draw does make it 12-straight matches without a loss for the Gunners across all competitions, as Arsenal have not lost since a 1-0 loss at Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League on Nov. 6.
Mikel Arteta reaction — How did Arsenal boss respond to blown lead, draw at Brighton?
Overall thoughts: “Disappointed because we wanted to win the game. We started the game with good actions and a really good goal. We knew they were going to be competitors. It wasn’t our best day. We really gave a lot of simple balls away. Very disappointed.”
On not liking the penalty call: “I’ve never seen it in my life and Saliba touches the ball, so, yeah. For me, no [penalty].”
What went wrong: “We lost too many simple things. We have to do much better. We play every three days, I understand, no fault effort, intensity, and how much we want it. But in terms of the quality and consistency we want to deliver, and doing the simple things against a really good team, today wasn’t to the standards to win the game with margins.”
On Nwaneri’s goal and injury: “Very good, but unfortunately I think we lost him as well. Another one, but we carry on. .... It’s a muscular thing and we had to take him off.”
How does this point affect title race: “Today we needed to win the game. We weren’t able to do that. There are things we have to be better. Disappointed as well with the decision and after that we’ll try to be better next game.”
