Arteta admits West Ham defeat one of most frustrating nights at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta admitted his side came up short in both boxes as Arsenal slumped to defeat against West Ham to miss out on regaining top spot in the Premier League.

Arsenal lost 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on what Arteta conceded was one of the most frustrating nights of his four-year tenure as Gunners manager.

Tomas Soucek’s opener – awarded after the VAR could not determine whether the whole ball had gone out of play in the buildup – and a second‑half header from the former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos earned the visitors a deserved win. Things could have been even better had Saïd Benrahma not had a stoppage-time penalty saved by David Raya on a night where Arteta applauded the performances of the opposition.

“I congratulate West Ham and praise my players. That’s what I can tell you,” he said.

“This is football. When you look at how much we generated in the game, to see the result is very disappointing. But they were better than us in both boxes. They had two shots, with the penalty three. We had 30. If we don’t score with 30 shots, then we have to do 50 or 60 to try to score. That’s the only thing.

“I can’t imagine a game where we have more touches in the box, more dominance and less situations for the opponent against a really good West Ham side. Today, though, it wasn’t enough to win the game.”

Asked if it was among the most frustrating nights of his managerial career, Arteta replied: “It is. But it’s football. Normally when the team generates so much it’s going to win games.

“That’s the way we’ve done it. Against Brighton, we generated so much and against Liverpool as well, but we score goals in different ways.”