EPL

Arteta 'really disappointed' despite Arsenal fightback against West Ham

By Sports Desk March 21, 2021

Mikel Arteta declared himself "really disappointed" despite Arsenal fighting back from three goals down to claim 3-3 draw with West Ham United on Sunday.

The Gunners paid for a poor start at the London Stadium as they fell behind to early goals from Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek.

However, they reduced the deficit when Soucek was forced to put through his own net before the break, and it was game on when Craig Dawson did the same following the restart.

Alexandre Lacazette subsequently completed the turnaround with a header 10 minutes from time to earn the visitors a share of the spoils.

But, speaking after the game, manager Arteta could not hide his disappointment over a sloppy start that had given his side a mountain to climb.

He told Sky Sports: "I'm really disappointed because I cannot accept my team to play the way we did for certain periods in the first half because what I expect is the team to play the level we showed afterwards. 

"We played incredibly well, we should have scored six or seven goals, but we had two faces and the first face is about giving goals to the opponent and not doing what we have to do and that is not good enough.

"The first goal, it can happen. It's a really good combination, they do that, they play that channel well and have players in the box and scored a brilliant goal, it's fine. 

"The way we concede the second one is unacceptable, the third goal is unacceptable, and we still gave them one more – a throw-in and they hit the post.

"For the rest, [I liked] the attitude, the desire that we showed and the togetherness that we showed, because at 3-0 it's really difficult to do what we've done. 

"I have no doubts because we talked about it and I can see every day the energy and the cohesion the players have. We came really close to winning, I thought we deserved to win in the end, but the first part really worries me."

Arteta's opposite number David Moyes struck a more positive note, despite the fact his team threw away a sizeable lead.

"It was a really good game, a tough game, lots of goals. We played very well, especially in the opening 30 minutes, we were excellent," Moyes said.

"Unfortunately, we gave them a goal just before half-time from a deflection which I think the shot was going wide and it gave Arsenal a bit of a foot up. That made it more difficult. 

"We played very well for long periods; Arsenal played very well, but Arsenal are in good form at the minute and showing good things. 

"It wasn't a great result for us after going 3-0 up but it was still a good result. We've still kept ourselves moving along, it was a tough game for us and we showed that we're up there competing with the best teams."

The Hammers find themselves in the midst of a perhaps unexpected push for Champions League football this season, but missed a chance to go level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea.

Still, Moyes remained sanguine about his team's position given the manner in which they have exceeded all expectations thus far.

He added: "It's been a long time since we've finished above Arsenal in the league at West Ham, so we've done our best to make sure they can't catch us. 

"We're trying to stay in the top half of the league, I think at the start of the season if we'd said that we'd have said it's [going] good. But now we want more, now I'm greedy. 

"You should see the dressing room, they're devastated because they haven't taken all three points. It's a good sign for a manager, though."

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