Mikel Arteta has ‘no complaints’ over Southampton draw

Arsenal were held to their first draw of the season away at Southampton on Sunday afternoon. Despite scoring early, the Gunners missed several chances to put the game away which ultimately came back to bite them.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta says he has no complaints about his side’s 1-1 draw with Southampton. After Granit Xhaka opened the scoring with a fantastic effort, the Gunners then wasted numerous chances and were made to pay dearly in the second half.

Mikel Arteta has ‘no complaints’ over Southampton draw

A Stuart Armstrong strike in the second half rescued a point for his side. Speaking after the game, Arteta said his team didn’t put away chances and made life difficult for themselves in the second half with sloppy giveaways.

"“No complaints,” Arteta said via arsenal.com. “This is football. We were really good in the first half and controlled totally the game, we created loads of big chances that we didn’t put away. In the Premier League, unfortunately, if you don’t do that when you are top of the game you can have some difficulties.“In the second half we put ourselves in problems with the amount of giveaways that we had, especially with ball possession, and that didn’t allow us to control the game the way we wanted. Their direct play and long throws and set pieces disrupted the game a lot. We tried to react and I still think in the second half the two biggest chances were ours but we didn’t put them away.”"

While it’s not the end of the world, as Arsenal still sit top of the Premier League table by two points, it was a chance to further distance themselves from the chasing pack. With Tottenham losing and Chelsea and Manchester United sharing the spoils, it was a chance missed.

Striker Gabriel Jesus was one of the main culprits for missing chances. The Brazilian has been nothing short of sensational since arriving, but he lowered his colours on Sunday. Arteta says that no one is harder on the striker than himself.

"“I’m sure that today he will be disappointed because he had the chances to put them away. Knowing Gabby, he’s disappointed when he scores two goals and could have scored three or four, so he can do that. But he’s having the chances and he’s always there. He gives so much to the team and it’s a shame he couldn’t put them away today.”"

Arsenal are back in action on Thursday night when they face PSV in the Europa League.