Arteta rues Arsenal inability to hang on
As Slavia Prague equalised deep into injury time, to dramatically grasp the advantage in this Europa League quarter-final, Mikel Arteta turned and held his face. The Arsenal manager appeared tortured. He looked like a rendition of Edvard Munch’s The Scream – which was probably what he was doing inside.
Arteta had declared this tie “all or nothing”, their last chance at redemption, and now it hangs by a thread. Having taken a late lead, they could not hold on and will have to score and probably win in Prague next week. And Slavia, who have knocked out Leicester City and Rangers on this run, have not lost at home all season.
Arsenal were not good enough in either penalty area, which is some indictment for such an expensively assembled team who could bring on big-name substitutes including captain Pierre-emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, who scored.
There is a mental fragility at the heart of Arsenal. They are the kings of complacency. How else do you explain working so hard to take a precious lead, having twice struck the frame of the goal as they wasted chances – including a horrible miss by Alexandre Lacazette – only to be unable to hold out for a further eight minutes?
Slavia put them under concerted pressure and they folded. It is also 14 games without a clean sheet.
The tie is far from over but the reaction of Arteta, who marched straight to the dressing room at the final whistle, and the players, with Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Cedric Soares arguing on the pitch, said it all. “It’s more about the final result that leaves a difficult taste,” Arteta said. “What was missing was that if you have big chances, you have to take them. When we scored, we had to manage the game better than we did.” He added that Martin Odegaard, absent here, might be out for the “next game or two”. When Arsenal finally did score, it came from a rapid counter-attack as Granit Xhaka hoisted the ball forward and Aubameyang played in Pepe, whose pace took him away from David Zima before he calmly lifted the ball over goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
That was surely it, but Arsenal carelessly gave the ball away and Bernd Leno pushed a powerful shot from the impressive Lukas Provod against the post. The resulting corner was flicked on and, at the far post, Tomas Holes threw himself to beat Cedric and head into the net.
Maybe Arteta’s team selections will be scrutinised but, really, no one could argue with dropping Aubameyang. What is more in question is how long the manager waited before making his substitutions when he has such a strong bench.
The first half was tepid and Bukayo Saka missed its only chance. Then it opened up. From a free-kick, Willian almost caught out Kolar as the ball smacked the outside of the post. Then Slavia broke and Provod fed Jan Boril, whose shot took a deflection before Leno blocked with his legs. “We have to be compact,” Arteta yelled.
It worked, with Lacazette stealing the ball away from Oscar Dorley, the last defender, and running through on goal. He bent a shot high around Kolar – only for it to strike the crossbar, with Emile Smith Rowe making a mess of the follow-up. Then Lacazette scooped Saka’s low cross over.
Slavia should have scored as Cedric’s clearance went to Petr Sevcik, who drove his shot past the post. Aubameyang, on at last, sidefooted the ball across goal with his first touch before Kolar tipped over a rising shot from Gabriel Martinelli, another replacement.
Finally the goals came. As did the inquest. “I believe that we can go there and win, otherwise I would not be sitting here,” Arteta said. But he is not sitting comfortably.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Leno 6; Bellerin 5, Holding 6, Gabriel 7, Cedric 6; Xhaka 6, Partey 7 (Elneny 78); Saka 7 (Pepe 78), Smith Rowe 6 (Ceballos 88), Willian 7 (Martinelli 73); Lacazette 6 (Aubameyang 78). Subs Ryan (g), Hein (g), Mari, Nelson, Nketiah, Lopez, Azeez.
Slavia Prague (4-2-3-1) Kolar 8; Bah 6, Zima 6, Holes 7, Boril 6; Hromada 5 (Sevcik h-t), Provod 8; Dorley 6 (Lingr 70), Stanciu 6 (Masopust 84), Olayinka 6 (Traore 86); Sima 6 (Kuchta 70). Subs Stejskal (g), Kovar (g), Tecl, Visinsky. Booked Zima.
Referee Andreas Ekberg (Sweden).