Mikel Arteta dismissed suggestions that Arsenal were over-relying on set-pieces following their 1-1 draw at Fulham this afternoon.
William Saliba grabbed Arsenal’s equalizer from a corner, canceling out Raul Jimenez’s opener, heading home after Kai Havertz had knocked down Declan Rice’s delivery.
It was the fourth successive game the Gunners have scored from a corner and the 23rd time they have done so since the start of last season, the most in Europe’s top five leagues.
More worrying was the fact that their open play xG at Craven Cottage was just 0.3.
Not the result we wanted. Not the result your support deserved.
Thank you for sticking with us through the whole game, Gooners 👏 pic.twitter.com/X5pZkYaP17
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 8, 2024
Arteta said: “I think it’s great that we can score from set pieces again. We can create other things, we had other opportunities. For a team to play like this you have to analyze every phase. “Obviously against a low block you create set-pieces and crosses because it’s very difficult to attack inside.”
Asked if his side were creating enough chances from open play, he added: “It’s never enough if you don’t score three, four or five.
“We want to improve in everything we do. If they play 11 or 12 straight balls there, I want to win 11. If it’s 12, then 12. If we win the high press and leave the unit out and they want to play, six times, six times. And when we manage the game, we want to manage the game 100 percent. That’s football.”
Gutted Arteta laments the fine margins
With Liverpool out of action due to the postponement of the Merseyside derby, Arsenal failed to take full advantage, although Bukayo Saka’s goal was disallowed for marginally offside.
Arteta said: “I mean we didn’t win it because I think we deserved to win from start to finish. We did pretty much everything we had to do to win it. But such is the quality of the opposition, with one chance to score. And then the margins of the championship.
“For millimetres, we could be sitting here with three points after a really strong and dominant performance against a very good team.
“We cannot feel sorry for ourselves. We have to defend ourselves. We had a very good performance against a very good team. You don’t normally see these kinds of games here. Now we have to keep improving and see what we can do better so that the opponent has zero chance of winning the game. That’s the goal.”
