Mikel Arteta expressed his frustration Arsenal were unable to convert their dominance of their home match with Everton into three points as his team’s title’s hopes took another hit from a goalless draw.
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With 10-man Liverpool dropping points at home to Fulham at the same time, Arsenal could have closed the gap on the leaders to three points and gone second with victory at Emirates Stadium.
However, despite having 13 shots, including three from captain Martin Odegaard in the first half, Arsenal were unable to find a way past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and his defence to draw for the second weekend running, after being held 1-1 at Fulham.
It was their first home goalless draw since January 2023 against Newcastle United.
“Yes we’re very disappointed not to win the game because if there was a team obviously that deserved to win it that was Arsenal," he told the club's official website.
“We did everything that was necessary overall apart from the fact that we didn’t score a goal. We conceded absolutely nothing, dominated all the direct play, didn’t allow them to run and conceded no set pieces.
“But we go there in so many occasions, we created three or four big chances, didn’t score from there, and then the frustrating part is that at the end of those games when they come that way and you are able to do so much to restrict the opposition, which is very difficult to do, at the end you want to be rewarded for what you’ve done and the difficulty is that we haven’t tonight."
As to what his players could have done differently, Arteta pinpointed a cooler attitude in front of goal.
“It’s all the moments that we need to have a little more composure and more quality in those moments, that’s normal," he said. "That’s it. Tracking back? Unbelievable. Putting in the high press? Unbelievable. Dominating a lot of things? Unbelievable, but the disappointing thing is that you want to come away winning after what you’ve done on the pitch.”
In his attempt to get a goal Arteta removed Odegaard for 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri for what he said were tactical reasons, "to try to change their rhythm on that side".
Arteta understood why some were surprised by the move. "If Ethan comes in and he scores a goal, it’s a great substitution," he said. "If he doesn’t, you have taken your captain out. That’s football."
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Dyche and Pickford proud of team
Everton manager Sean Dyche was proud of his team's defensive efforts.
"You’ve got to know how to work without the ball," he said. "It’s very difficult at these grounds to think you’re going to have a lot of the ball so, therefore, you’ve got to do everything else well.
"I think we did that today. I thought the shape was good, the energy, the commitment to the cause to look after ourselves and get a clean sheet. All those things are part of a season’s work."
The draw means Everton have suffered only two defeats in their last 11 Premier League matches.
"The discipline is there," said Pickford who made five crucial saves. "Against Arsenal, you’d smash and grab a point all day long. I made some good saves at good times. The lads made some brilliant blocks. A good performance from everyone."
