The Struggle Continues : Gunners give another two points away

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal “gave away two points” after a late goal from John Fleck earned Sheffield United a 1-1 draw at Emirates Stadium and bemoaned a shortage of defenders.

Gabriel Martinelli put the Gunners ahead with his ninth goal of the season at the end of the first half on Saturday and Arsenal continued to dominate the game until the last 10 minutes.

Yet Arteta could only watch on as Callum Robinson’s cross found Fleck, who rifled home an equaliser his side barely deserved.

“I am very disappointed. We gave away two points,” Gunners head coach Arteta said.

“There is a history of giving away goals. In the Premier League when you’re 1-0 up anything can happen.

“I think they all went full gas and tried really hard. Maybe in the first five minutes we tried to figure out the game but later they changed system and it was harder to control.”

With Kieran Tierney and Calum Chambers injured, Arteta selected Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bukayo Saka and admitted the shortcomings of his two makeshift full-backs were exposed for the equaliser.

“When we analyse the opponent we can try to ask Ainsley and Bukayo a lot of things but they are not full-backs,” Arteta added.

“These things will happen.”