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Mikel Arteta analyses the draw against West Ham.
Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta has fingered a loss of purpose for their draw against West Ham, suggesting his team strayed away from their path.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium by a gutsy West Ham side, sprinkling uncertainties on their title charge.
The match in brief
After two quick goals, Mikel Arteta's team appeared to be coasting to victory. However, the home team rallied back to force a draw.
In the seventh minute of the game, Gabriel Jesus gave Arsenal the lead before Martin Odegard increased the lead in the tenth minute.
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In the 33rd and 54th minutes, respectively, Jarod Bowen scored the equalise for the home team after Said Benrahma had pulled one back for the hosts.
However, in the 52nd minute, Arsenal had a penalty kick opportunity to go up 3-1, but Saka missed the target.
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What Arteta said
The 42-year-old claimed to be disappointed by the result and the flow of his game, saying his team started well and were in control before falling off.
He attributed this to a loss of purpose, saying his team gave the Hammers a way back into the game by conceding a terrible penalty.
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Arteta thought his team did not show enough desire to score a needed third or fourth goal to win the game.
"Very disappointing. The way we started was superb again; we were in total control, then we lost purpose," he said, per the BBC.
"We gave them hope, conceded a terrible penalty, then credit to them. We got on the roller coaster where everything is going, corners and throw ins, and we never got away from that.
"The purpose we needed for third and fourth goal, I didn't see it."
Arsenal host bottom-of-the-table Southampton in their next Premier League game, before travelling to the Etihad for the crucial six-pointer against Manchester City.
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