Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal’s defensive approach in their draw at Manchester City, saying his team had to learn from their previous games against the champions.
The Gunners went down to 10 men inside the first half when Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for booting the ball away when Arsenal were 2-1 ahead.
Following the break, Arteta’s men were content to sit back, not minding being without the ball until John Stones’ late equaliser.
The North London club were pointed fingers by City’s defenders Kyle Walker and Stones for employing “dark arts” tactics, with Bernardo Silva also accusing them of “time wasting”.
However, Arsenal gaffer Arteta was defiant, citing their 5-0 defeat to their title challengers in 2021 after Granit Xhaka was sent off.
“Unfortunately we’ve been in the same situation,” he said ahead of their Carabao Cup clash against Bolton.
“We were in that same situation with Granit and when we lost 5-0. So we’d better learn. If not I would be very thick.”
Erling Haaland threw the ball at Arsenal defender Gabriel’s head after City’s equaliser as tempers were at a high but Arteta downplayed the situation.
“We have already moved on and we are now ready to battle again tomorrow.
“The team, the desire that they have to compete in any context, to win, to adapt to different circumstances, different competitions, different ways of playing and handle that emotionally and physically, the way we’ve done it is superb,” he added.
