Mikel Arteta was unfazed by what he felt was a harsh penalty against his Arsenal in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Brighton as he refused to talk about his team's chances of winning the Premier League.
The Gunners took a 16th-minute lead at the Amex Stadium thanks to Ethan Nwaneri's second league goal.
But Brighton equalized midway through the second half after a penalty was awarded following William Saliba's aerial challenge on Joao Pedro, who converted the penalty.
The draw leaves Arsenal five points behind Liverpool having played two more games, although Arteta was more focused on what he felt was an unfair decision against his side.
“We are very disappointed with the penalty,” he told Sky Sports.
“I've never seen that in my life – and Saliba touches the ball. [It wasn’t one] for me: no.”
The Spaniard admitted that despite the decision, his team did not provide enough attacking threat throughout the match.
He said: “We play every three days. I understand how much we want [win]But in terms of quality, consistency and doing the simple things well against a competitive team, we didn't do enough today.”
Liverpool now have the opportunity to extend their lead at the top to eight points with victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
“We wanted to win and we couldn't,” said Arteta, whose team will face Newcastle United in the EFL Cup, Man United in the FA Cup and Tottenham in the league in their next three games.
'We are very disappointed with the [penalty] decision. Furthermore, we will try to improve and prepare for our next match.”
Not the outcome that deserved your incredible support.
Stay with us and we'll see you again on Tuesday, Gooners pic.twitter.com/XhjZ2RBCjQ
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 4, 2025
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler believes his side are still unable to play at full strength this season as their winless run stretched to eight league games.
He told Sky Sports: “I feel like I have to repeat myself all the time, which is a disappointing feeling. “In the first half we weren't as intense as we wanted.
“The game we want to play is intense, [we want to] pressure high. If you want to attack the box, you need to invest in deep runs. We're not where we should be yet, but it's a process.”
However, Hurzeler still praised his team for a clear improvement in the second half.
“After the goal it was much better. The big word for us is consistency,” he added.
“If we look at Arsenal's chances, they had one [big opportunity] during the game.”
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