Mikel Arteta namedrops ‘unbelievable’ Aston Villa star and admits Arsenal ‘requirement’

The Spanish head coach was furious Arsenal let their two-goal lead slip against Aston Villa but he made a point to heap praise on one of his opponents’ players.

Goals from Gunners attacking duo Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz gave Villa a mountain to climb but Youri Tielemans’ brave diving header and a thumping volley from Ollie Watkins shared the spoils.

Arsenal should’ve put the game to bed by the hour mark and they had opportunities to clinch it late on. Havertz thought he’d won the tie in the 89th minute as he deflected a Mikel Merino strike into the net but replays showed a handball, so VAR intervened.

Arteta was incandescent with rage as his side’s last-gasp win was stripped away but the manager remained calm and collected in the press conference to point out a Villa star’s excellence.

“Today I think you have to put credit to the opposition,” Arteta admitted. “Lucas Digne put in an unbelievable ball, Tielemans arrives in the box. It’s one mistake below the standard required,” he said.

Tielemans “arriving in the box” somewhat undersells what was an outstanding header but such kind words don’t go unnoticed. The praise didn’t quite extend to Villa’s pivotal equaliser, however, as Watkins - a boyhood Arsenal fan - fired in first-time from a Matty Cash cross.

Arsenal lose valuable ground to Liverpool

No wonder Arteta’s compliments were only brief as Saturday’s draw could have major implications on the Premier League title race. Arsenal are now six points behind Liverpool and Arne Slot’s side have a game in hand.

Arteta admitted the dropped points against Villa could prove decisive to who takes the crown, especially given the nature of the Reds’ last-gasp 2-0 win over Brentford earlier on Saturday.

“There are moments – obviously they managed to do that. They made the subs and the subs made the impact and they managed to change the game,” he said of Liverpool’s victory at the Gtech Community Stadium.

“In our side it was the opposite, even after conceding the two goals very close to each other. The danger was that I knew half the team could go downhill because we were physically drained. Suddenly, the team find another gear to go again and just put Aston Villa in there, in the box, and go and go again, trying to find the goal that we haven’t been able to score at the end.”

There are still positives to take for Arsenal, though, with Arteta adamant his team put on a brilliant display against Villa. The thin squad has been pushed to the limits and Arteta wants that to be recognised.

“I think when you look at the performances, I don’t know how many teams are playing at this level in the league. When you look at the bench you probably say, we are very, very short,” he concluded.