GRANIT PITY
Xhaka howler takes shine off promising display by Gunners
IT may not feel like it but Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal are making progress.
Their European hopes were dented by this draw and instead of climbing the table they are treading water.
They have won just two of their last seven league games and are stuck in 10th.
Arteta claims they are improving, even though they are roughly in the same place they were at this point last season when they were ninth with two fewer points.
And that’s with splashing out £77million in the last 12 months.
The Gunners did enough to win and Arteta claims that’s evidence they are getting better because they deserved to lose this fixture 13 months ago when they drew 0-0.
The Spaniard said: “The message is getting through but some things take time. There were good moments and when we compare the game to a year ago when we played here, we completely deserved to win.
“A year ago we deserved to lose that game but the result was the same. Things are very, very different.”
Arteta refuses to give up on
Europe, although he knows it’ll be increasingly difficult to qualify through the Premier League.
He said: “It’s complicated at the minute. I still have the feeling that the way we are playing we can win any game but we’re giving something to the opponent. This is the biggest area for improvement.”
Arsenal remain a work in progress and it was alarming how their heads went down when Granit Xhaka gifted Chris Wood the equaliser to cancel Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener with a pass across the face of his own goal.
Xhaka saw red for grabbing Ashley Westwood by the throat in the home loss to Burnley in December and apologised for his latest hair-brained moment on Instagram.
The midfielder said: “I hold my hand up for their goal and I’m sorry for the mistake.”
Arsenal only roused themselves near the end when Nicolas Pepe missed a sitter, Erik Pieters deflected another Pepe effort against the bar with his shoulder and Dani Ceballos hit the post.
Yet they could have lost and Wood failed to convert a great chance during this frantic finale.
Arteta played down Arsenal’s mental frailty, claiming his players showed the right response to Xhaka’s error by finishing strongly.
He said: “It can happen to a player but it cannot happen to a team.
“When you lose that idea, that feeling that they didn’t believe we could win the game, the reaction in the last 15 minutes was the answer.”
This is a defining week for Arteta and Arsenal and another test of their progression
On Thursday they take on Olympiakos in Athens in the Europa League – their last hope of silverware – before the North London derby at the Emirates on Sunday.
The Greeks dumped Arsenal out of the competition last season but Arteta insists his players can handle the pressure.
He said: “We have the pressure of representing this club and what that means is that in any competition we play, we have to win. These are massive games for us.”
Burnley’s fifth successive home draw edged them closer to safety. Sean Dyche was pleased with how Wood combined with hard-working Matej Vydra in the absence of crocked Ashley Barnes.
The Clarets gaffer said: “In the second half they were working, harrying, connecting with each other.
“I always think when two strikers start connecting, you’re on to something. We are getting more and more productive.”