We failed to capitalise on our dominance: Arteta on why Arsenal lost to Villa

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has opened up on his team performance against Aston Villa and why they were unable to win the match.

Needing a win to mount pressure on Manchester City and Liverpool, the gunners were stunned at home by an Aston Villa side led by former Arsenal manager, Unai Emery.

The match was heading towards a goalless draw before Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins ensured Villa left Emirate with a win.

Speaking after the match, Arteta revealed that his team failed to capitalize on their first half performance.

Discussing his emotions post-match, Mikel said: “We’re really disappointed and frustrated because of the way we played the first half and the amount of chances and situations we created, how dominant we were and it should have obviously been a very, very different scoreline.

“We didn’t capitalise on that and in the second half we struggled much more to get momentum. It was a much more even game, and we dropped the level. They increased it and we conceded very poor goals that cost us the game.

“We didn’t score any goals and on top of that, we conceded two goals that are nowhere near the level that we’ve been at. That’s the reason why we lost the game and you have to congratulate the opponent as well when you lose the game.”

Arsenal’s defeat to Aston Villa have seen them maintain their second spot on the table. However, they are two points behind leaders Manchester City with six games left.