Mikel Arteta was unimpressed by Nicolas Pepe after the Ivorian earned a straight red card for a headbutt on Leeds’ Ezgjan Alioski.
While the Gunners survived 40 minutes with 10 men to claim a point at Elland Road, the boss couldn’t hide his disappointment at the action of his winger and the failure to get back to winning ways.
Here’s what he had to say when he faced the Sky Sports cameras…
On the draw…
Considering how early we got Pepe sent off, we have to take it. I never like a draw but considering the circumstances, it’s a point.
On if there’s any excuse for Pepe’s red card…
No.
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On if his message to Pepe…
It’s unacceptable.
On trying to change the game with Saka and Nelson…
The first half there were two different periods. The first 25 to 30 minutes we were more dominant and created a lot of issues for them. Then the game breaked a little bit, we started to give balls away in difficult areas and not finishing actions which leads to them having space to break; and they are good at it. We suffered in those minutes. Then the second half, we were very early with ten men and it was a matter of defending well, staying patient and using the pace of our players and the spaces they were leaving.
On Saka having a good chance to score…
Yeah, it was the best chance in the game, I believe. The keeper did really well, he was very patient and on another day you could win the game. The reality is that they threatened our box a lot, they threw a lot of balls in there and we were lucky in certain moments.
On it taking Arsenal an hour to register a shot on target…
There were other shots, one hit the bar, others went close to that, it’s not a matter of just shots on target, it’s a matter of the opportunities that we created. In the first half, for a period, we were better, then they were better. In the second half with ten men, at the intensity that this game required when you play against them, it’s a big disadvantage.
On how his players handled the Leeds threat…
I really liked the personality of the team when Pepe let the team down; how we suffered together and stuck to what we had to do. I still believe we had a moment or two where we could win the game but obviously they made it really difficult.
(ARSE.BLOGNEWS)
