Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has spoken about their 1-0 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Manchester City on Friday night.
Nathan Ake grabbed the only goal of the game on 64 minutes to seal City’s place in the fifth round, but it was a resolute display after Arsenal made six changes to the side that beat Manchester United last weekend.
“At the moment, it’s disappointing because we are out and we could have taken much more from that game and we didn’t. The feeling that I have is we really competed against them and made it difficult for them, but we lacked something to win against a team like this,” said Arteta.
“We have taken big chances in matches this season – that’s why we have beaten a lot of the big teams. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be and we didn’t defend the action well enough in the box when Ake scored. The full-back puts the ball in the corner with his right foot, so there’s not that much that you can do – but it’s not only that, it’s the composure, especially in the second half when we had momentum. We had three or four big openings and we have to be more ruthless to put the ball in the net,” he added.
Arteta also discussed why Guardiola was surprised by their man-on-man marking and whether they will play the same way in the league game.
“I think it will be a very different match from both sides, probably with different personnel as well. That’s it – we tried to compete here and win today. We came here to win the game and unfortunately, we haven’t. The next match will hopefully be different.
About the Thomas Partey substitution, the coach said that the Ghanaian midfielder felt something and that they didn’t want to take any risks, so he could not continue.
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