Mikel Arteta issues serious demand to Arsenal players after Crystal Palace draw
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has called on his players to quickly rediscover their energy and focus after a frustrating 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Gunners twice took the lead through Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard, but were pegged back by goals from Eberechi Eze and Jean-Philippe Mateta, whose superb chipped finish punished a mistake from William Saliba. The draw dealt another blow to Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions ahead of their crucial Champions League semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
“It was a disappointing result and performance,” Arteta told Sky Sports. “We didn’t find enough consistency in our actions to dominate the game. It’s part of football and it cost us two points. In many areas we needed to do better.”
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Arteta acknowledged that individual mistakes had again proven costly for his side, saying: “For sure, they cost you points. It’s part of football, but now we have the most important game of the season in six days. We need to get our energy back.”
The match saw Arsenal enjoy periods of dominance, with Trossard restoring their lead after Eze’s equaliser. Gabriel Martinelli thought he had added a third, only for the goal to be disallowed after the ball had gone out of play during the build-up. Moments later, Mateta capitalised on Saliba’s lapse to level for Palace with a composed finish past David Raya.
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Speaking after the match, Trossard echoed Arteta’s frustration and insisted the Gunners must raise their standards ahead of the clash with PSG.
“The quality today wasn’t there compared to our last game,” said the Belgian winger. “We were nowhere near that and we got punished. We need to raise the level with our big game coming up. We want to win every game, in any competition. We just need to be better.”
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