Arteta ‘disappointed’ as Palace end Arsenal run, gives Tierney, Ozil updates

ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta admitted after Thursday night’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium that his side lacked cutting edge.

The Gunners did not create much against a well organised Palace side and their three-match winning run in the PremierLeague came to an end.

“I am disappointed because we wanted to win the game but I think the draw is a fair result, because we lacked some presence and some quality in the final third to win tonight,” Arteta said in his post-match interview.

One of Arsenal’s most in-form players Kieran Tierney pulled up injured hours before kick-off and Arteta claimed the left-back’s absence had an impact on the performance and result.

“It is a challenge when you create a game plan for the day and just a few hours before the game he has to pull out,” the Spaniard noted.

“But we have other players to do it and they have to step in. Kieran’s progression over the last few months has been incredible and now it’s for another player to step in and do what he does.

“We don’t know how long he’ll be out for. We’ll probably know more tomorrow after testing him and knowing more about the injury and how long he’s going to be out for.

“Certainly it was a big disappointment on the day of the match to lose him, but hopefully he can be with us very quickly.”

Although Arsenal did not have the opportunity to celebrate a goal on Thursday night, Arteta weighed in on the calls for players to limit body contact when celebrating goals in the face of the escalating COVID-19 crisis.

He said: “What we can control and what we are trying really hard to do is to try to follow all the guidelines, all the rules but sometimes that becomes difficult because there are a lot of emotions involved in the game. 

“Obviously, it’s good to do fist bumping but there are 25 actions where we have to grab each other on every set-piece.

“We are being tested every three days and we are trying to do all the right things and sometimes it makes sense to be all the time demanding that but at sometimes there are things that are pretty complicated.”

Arteta gave the latest update on wantaway midfielder Mesut Ozil, who has been heavily linked with a move to Fenerbahce in Turkey.

“Well, I don’t know how close he has been before,” Arteta offered. “There are some conversations going with Edu and the club at the moment, but nothing concrete yet.”