Arteta satisfied with Arsenal’s draw vs Man United, explains Aubameyang’s absence

ARSENAL manager Mikel Arteta believes the draw between his side and Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday was a fair result.

The improving Gunners kept their seventh clean sheet in eight matches with the 0-0 draw, while United set a new club record of 18 straight away top-flight matches without defeat.

“I thought it was a fair result,” Arteta said during his post-match interview.

“I think both managers probably think they should have won it. I think it was a big game. I think we played face-to-face against each other. I think both teams wanted to win it. 

“None of us scored a goal so it’s impossible to win. The fact we had three of our best players out probably has an impact [on the game] but I’m really happy with the players that played today and how we tried and most importantly how the game developed at the end. 

“In the second half we were so dominant and had some big chances to win it.”

Arsenal’s top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was one of the key players missing, along with the injured Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney.

The Gabon captain had to attend to a family issue and travelled out of the United Kingdom for a few days.

Arteta explained why Aubameyang, despite being back in the UK, could not play on Saturday.

“We are following the rules and the protocols right now and the protocols say that he cannot be involved at the moment,” he noted.

“We have to respect that and the doctor is managing the situation.

“It’s because he had a family issue that he had to attend to and these are the consequences of that.”

Arsenal were mostly on the back foot in the first half but took the game to their visitors after the break.

Arteta described what changed for his team.

“Well, we made some changes with a few things that we had to fix to be much more efficient, to be much closer to them, to be more effective in our high press and the areas where we could regain the ball and then we had a better structure to attack,” the Spaniard noted.

“We were more of a threat and we stopped giving the ball back to the opponent when we won it and we had much space to run, which is something that against United can really punish you and in the first half we didn’t do that well enough.”

The Gunners have gone from potential relegation candidates to being considered as prospects for a top four finish following their strong recent form.

Arteta wants the side to continue with their upward trajectory.

He said: “I don’t know (how high the team will finish), but we’re going to give it a real go. I think the team is in a really good moment and I think we are moving in the right direction. 

“All the players are so willing to contribute to the team and contribute to the plan that we have in place, and they seem excited, so when that’s the case I have to push them inch by inch and make them believe that we can finish the season in a really strong way.”

Arsenal are ninth, seven points off Liverpool in fourth. United are second, 10 points clear of the Gunners.