Arteta while talking to BT Sport after the encounter said Arsenal did not win enough duels and gave away the ball often during the game
By Kehinde Okeowo
Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta has said his team was eliminated from the rounds of 16 of the Europa League because they were not at their usual level during the tie.
The Gunners gaffer who spoke to BT Sport after the encounter at the Emirates Stadium, also made it known that his team did not win enough duels and gave away the ball often during the game.
The north London club came into the second leg of their last-16 match against Portuguese side, Sporting Lisbon, with the game finely poised at 2-2.
Granit Xhaka gave the hosts a first-half lead after the visitor’s goalkeeper had saved an initial effort from Gabriel Martinelli.
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However, Sporting Lisbon after being frustrated by their hosts, equalised in the 70th minute thanks to a long-range stunner from Pedro Goncalves.
The game eventually went to penalties when both sides could not find the second goal after the additional 30 minutes extra time.
During the shootout Brazil international, Martinelli missed Arsenal’s fourth spot-kick, and the visitors went on to win the penalty 5-3 to progress to the quarter-final.
Speaking on the loss Arteta said: “A huge blow obviously. There were moments in the first 75 minutes where we weren’t at our level. We gave every ball away and we didn’t have the capacity to take the game. There were chances to win it in extra-time. There was a lot of uncertainty with the pens.
“We didn’t win enough duals in certain spaces. We didn’t put the ball under pressure well enough. We gave the ball away consistently and it created a really open game we didn’t want to play,”
