Follow Us on Google
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta was furious with Wednesday night’s UCL second-half display against Slavia Prague, despite sealing a 2-1 victory.
The Spanish tactician said his side “were sloppy” and insisted the “standards must be higher” in games.
Arsenal looked set to cruise to victory at the Fortuna Arena after Noni Madueke opened the scoring nine minutes into the game and Viktor Gyokeres added a stylish second before half-time.
Dominating the first half, the Gunners restricted Slavia to just one shot and no shots on target, and could have been three or four goals ahead at the break.
However, last season’s finalists collapsed after the restart, allowing Slavia 17 shots in the second half, the joint-most in a single half against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Mojmir Chytil had an effort cleared off the line by Gabriel Magalhaes, David Raya made a stunning save to tip Oskar Kubiak’s header onto the post, and Wiktor Nowak eventually pulled one back in the 90th minute to set up a nervous finale.
Arteta told TNT Sports, “Two very different halves.
“The first one we played at a really high level – exceptional at times, I would say. The scoreline should have reflected three or four goals. We didn’t do it.
“And at half-time, I told them that they [Slavia] are a team with huge spirit, they will keep running and keep believing. They will become more chaotic. We didn’t control that at all, right from the beginning.
“We were on the back foot, very sloppy, we gave so many balls away, so many bad clearances. We didn’t keep the ball in our structure at all. And then you have to suffer because teams in the Champions League are really good. A lot to learn.”
In his post-match press conference, Arteta went further, blasting his players for ignoring their game plan.
“We were extremely far from our standards in everything we had to do. In the basics, in everything that we discussed to avoid the game we played in the second half. So, very far from the standards we expect from each other,” he said.
