By Taiwo Ibrahim
Mikel Arteta is disappointed with Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday after the club extended their winless run in the Premier League to four games.
The Gunners ended their two-match losing run in the league with a positive result which leaves them nine points behind table-toppers, Liverpool going into the last international break of the year.
The first half ended goalless with the game bursting into life in the second half as both sides improved, but the visitors drew the first blood against the run of play.
Gabriel Martinelli made amends for his miss in the first half with a close range finish from Odegaard’s lofted pass to give the Gunners the lead in the 60th minute.
Ten minutes later, Chelsea found a way back into the game through Pedro Neto, who unleashed a low effort from outside the box to make it 1-1.
Both sides failed to find the winner as they shared the spoils with a bigger implication on Arsenal’s title aspirations.
Arsenal have now failed to win their last four games in the Premier League for the first time since April 2023.
The Gunners occupy the fourth position with 19 points same as Chelsea in third, but the Blues have a better goal difference.
Chelsea goal scorer, Pedro Neto described the result as a good point against a good team.
He said: “We wanted to win, but we knew we had hard work in front of us because they are a good team. We came to win, so we’re not as happy as we wanted to be, but we didn’t want to lose and it’s a good point against a good team.
“We read the game well. We had moments where we could have been better but we’ve done a good job and we want to keep improving at this level.
“I am really happy to help the team. This is a group that works really hard each day. I work every day to improve, I’m trying to improve and go to my best level.”
Enzo Maresca was delighted with Chelsea’s performance against a strong Arsenal side.
He said: “I enjoyed it, absolutely. The performance was good. We know them quite well and we competed pretty well. The performance is very important for us at the moment and it was good. We can rest now and go again.
“The performance from Pedro [Neto] was very good, all of them, complete. We played in the way we wanted to, brave, and try and play from the back always.”
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta was disappointed that his team couldn’t end their winless run in the Premier League.
He said: “The disappointment of not getting three points is bigger [than being satisfied] and it will probably be bigger after watching it back. I think we dominated them, we were the better team in many phases and situations in the game and after going ahead, very disappointed in the way we conceded. It was so poor. It is not our standards and we don’t accept.”
Tottenham suffered a shock 2-1 home loss to Ipswich Town, while Newcastle United earned a 3-1 away win over Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United recorded a 3-0 win over Leicester City in the other games played on Sunday.
