Mikel Arteta believes that ‘there’s something missing’ after seeing his Arsenal lose more ground on league leaders Liverpool.
Kai Havertz thought he had helped the Gunners score a late winner against Aston Villa when Mikel Merino’s strike took a wicked deflection off him and past Emiliano Martinez.
But the goal was ruled out after the ball was adjudged to have come off Havertz’s arm as Arsenal ultimately blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Villa at the Emirates Stadium.
Had Arsenal held on for a win, they’d have been only four points behind Liverpool in the table.
However, second-half goals from Watkins and Youri Tielemans in the space of eight minutes widened the gap between the Reds and Arsenal to six points, with Liverpool also holding a game in hand.
Reflecting on the result, Arteta told Sky Sports: “In attack, in defence, the level that we are playing is so, so high because we’ve played some big teams and we were so good but there’s something missing.
“That line is so thin and we have to find it.
“Today we concede these goals and it cannot be a part of our game if we want to be up there.”
Asked if he knows what is missing, Arteta replied: “Yeah, today it was clear. We cannot concede the two goals that we have done after everything that we put in with discipline and commitment, our resilience and our quality – that line is so thin, against them especially.
“We have been punished with that before and we cannot do it.”
