Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was happy with his side’s dominant performance against Inter Milan in the Champions League despite the game ending in a 1-0 defeat for the Gunners, Soccernet.football reports.
Arteta’s men dictated the pace of the game right from the first whistle, bossing possession and providing the majority of the goal-mouth action. They racked up 20 attempts, generated 1.80 xG and missed three clear-cut chances.
In the end, Inter scored the game’s only goal after Arsenal summer signing Mikel Merino was penalized for a handball in his own area just before halftime.
Arteta felt the decision was harsh, especially as Merino had not been awarded a penalty earlier. The Spanish midfielder appeared to reach a high ball before Yann Sommer in the Inter box, taking a punch to the head in the process.
That incident was cleared after a VAR review, while the penalty decision against Merino on the other end was swiftly upheld.
“I am very proud of my players, the level of domination we had,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
“We were very harshly done by in the sense that is obvious. Both penalties.
“If you are going to give a penalty, the other one has to be because he punches him in the head.
“There is no deflection, nothing you can do in the box, so can he get away from it? If he is going to give that, the other has to be 100% a penalty.”
Arteta believes his side can take some confidence from Wednesday night’s performance after their disappointment at Newcastle United over the weekend.
“We should have scored a couple at least, but the way the team played, that was us at least,” he added.
“Every decision in the box makes a difference.”The way we played tonight, the team can go to Chelsea and win.”