Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta went back to basics after their 3-1 loss to Manchester City. Arsenal’s third defeat in four games in all competitions allowed City to leapfrog them at the top of the Premier League table. They had lost more points in 11 days than they had in the previous six months of the season combined. After two weeks, it appears that belief was validated. Arsenal can reclaim a five-point lead when they visit Everton on Wednesday. But it needed more than faith to get them back into this situation.
“It was about returning to certain subtleties and fundamentals that stole games away from us,” Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said. “We discussed boxes. We’ve become far more efficient in both categories.”
For the most part, Arsenal played well, limiting Pep Guardiola’s team to their lowest-ever possession (36 percent), passing accuracy (73 percent), and successful passes (219). But what happens between the boxes only matters if you deliver inside them. Manchester City’s performance was merciless, beginning with Kevin De Bruyne’s incisive finish for the opening after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s blunder. Arsenal, on the other hand, lacked a clinical edge, cutting City open but unable to capitalize. The same profligacy could be witnessed in their previous games against Everton and Brentford, when they had a combined total of 38 shots and yet only reached the net once, through Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian’s goal in the 1-1 draw with Brentford was their lone open-play goal in the three games. The difficulty was exacerbated by sloppiness and inefficiency on the opposite end. Arsenal, who had been difficult to break down earlier in the season, was now giving up too many chances, with the underlying data indicating that they were fortunate to concede only twice in two games against Brentford and Everton. In fact, Arsenal’s total for expected goals in the match against Brentford was 2.01, their highest of the season to that time. Their totals versus Manchester City (1.80) and Everton (1.67) were not far behind, ranking third and fourth. The response has been unequivocal. Arsenal conceded two goals against Aston Villa and had to wait until injury time to win.
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