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Arsenal battled back superbly to earn a point against Liverpool at Anfield in an entertaining 2-2 draw, but Mikel Arteta, their coach, was far from happy about the first-half display that saw Liverpool, already crowned champions, lead through goals from Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz.
“What we did in the first half is nowhere near the level, so to do it after that is not acceptable,” said a fuming Arteta to Sky Sports after the match. “We reacted, great, but it is unacceptable.”
Headed goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino gave Arsenal a share of the points after a fine second- half display, but they were left to hang on for the draw with 10 men once Merino was dismissed for a second yellow card. It was Arsenal’s sixth red card of the season.
“A lot of parts, especially the defending standards and the errors after we gave the ball away, which is totally prohibited against this team,” said Arteta when questioned by the BBC about his ‘unacceptable’ comment. “We were very far off it. I was really upset. Yeah, we had a reaction but I hate reaction, I like action.
“If we want to be there winning trophies, there is going to be a moment where you win it or you don’t. If you don’t, you have to play another one when you have been working for nine months. That is here, today.
“If you cannot win it, you have to be the best of the rest. I was really, really upset.”
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It’s almost certain that Arsenal will finish second for the third season running, though their points tally will be well short of the 89 (2023-24) and 84 (2022-23) they managed in the last two campaigns.