Mesut Ozil has hailed Arsenal’s performance against Chelsea as one of their best for some time despite forfeiting their lead and ultimately succumbing to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday.
The Gunners went ahead against Chelsea in a vibrant first-half display, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang heading home from close range as the hosts dominated proceedings.
But Chelsea responded in the second half, tweaking their system, and levelled the scores late on in controversial fashion as Jorginho – who should have been shown a second yellow card – tapped in from close range.
Arsenal’s afternoon got even worse, leaving themselves exposed as they pushed for a winner and allowing Tammy Abraham to claim all three points for Chelsea.
Despite the disappointing result, which means Arsenal have only won one of their last 16 games in all competitions, new boss Mikel Arteta was upbeat about the side’s performance and Ozil echoed that sentiment after the game.
‘Today’s result hurts after our best performance for a while,’ he posted on Instagram.
‘We didn’t deserve to lose. But thanks for your amazing support at home this afternoon. We go again on Wednesday – together.’
Having drawn his first match in charge and lost his second, Arteta is still waiting for his first win in charge of Arsenal, but he was happy with a number of aspects of what he saw from his side.
Asked if he felt Arsenal deserved more from the game, Arteta said: ‘Yes, I am really disappointed with the result and the way we conceded the goals and the timing of them as well.
‘I’m pleased with a lot of things I’ve seen and I’m pleased with things that we trained that actually happened in the game and how they buy into this.
‘But I’m disappointed to lose the game. We have to sustain that level for longer periods against a very physical team like Chelsea and yes, we have to move on.’
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