Arteta ‘concerned’ as Arsenal can do ‘a lot’ better after Brighton draw

Mikel Arteta admitted that he was “concerned” with the way Arsenal played against Brighton as there are “a lot of things” they can do better.

Ahead of Saturday’s game, Arsenal had won their last five games across all competitions. Brighton are currently flying high in the European competitions and they were on the front foot in the first half.

The Seagulls had eight shots in the opening 45 minutes, with the downside being that none of these were on target.

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Arsenal‘s best chance in the first half fell to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, as he hit the outside of the post with a header.

Graham Potter’s side ended the game with over 20 shots but they were wasteful with their chances. The Gunners improved after the break but they were still fortunate to come away with a point.

This result moves Arsenal up to ninth in the Premier League. They are unbeaten in their previous four top-flight outings.

Arteta told BBC Sport after the game that the Gunners “struggled to break the press” against Brighton:

“In the first half we struggled to dominate the game. They proposed a really aggressive game, we struggled to break the press and that caused us problems because there was a lot of transitions and one-on-one situations that we could not deal with.

“We improved a little bit in the second half and had a couple of open situations that could have been big chances.

“We managed to get a point today because we defended the last 15-20 metres of the pitch really well. I think for the rest there is a lot of things we have to get better at.

“I was more concerned about the way we played. We didn’t make enough right decisions, every time there was a duel where we could escape pressure and attack open spaces we came up short and against this structure we had to do better.

[Aubameyang’s header] was probably the only open situation in the first half, and we were unlucky not to score it. I don’t think we deserved to win the game. We have to take the draw with the performance we had today and improve.”

On Arsenal’s recent  form: “We have conceded one goal in the last five games which is really positive. It is a really positive block of games that has helped us change the situation.

“We can now focus on the things we are doing well and work on the ones we need to improve.”