Steve Gatting spoke to the media after Arsenal's 2-1 defeat against Manchester City in the FA Youth Cup semi-final first leg. Below is a transcript of what was said:
on if they are still in the tie…
I think we are, going back with a one goal deficit, we are still in the game.
on the performance…
After a great start and going 1-0 up, we had a fantastic chance to go 2-0 up but we didn’t. The rest of the half I thought we were poor and we them gave the initiative. We sat off them and gave them plenty of the ball, we didn’t press the ball in the right areas and our passing wasn’t good enough in tight situations. We couldn’t get past their press and to come in at 2-1 at the interval, at one stage I thought we could have lost the whole tie in the first half. We kept at it and regrouped at half-time. The second half, I thought we did very well, we put things right and pressed the ball better. I thought we were by far the better side in the second half.
on the second half…
Football is about both ends. Defending one goal and scoring at the other end. We created good chances and we need to be a bit more clinical. If we were, perhaps we would have come away with a result.
on Hugo Keto…
That is what he is there for, to make saves. They were always going to cause problems with the pace they have, especially on the flanks. He came to our rescue a couple of times, but that is what they are there for and their keeper did the same at the other end.
on the second leg…
We need to stay in the tie. We need to play like we did in the second half by putting pressure on Man City and passing the ball better. If we go 1-0 down at Emirates Stadium, it becomes hard work. The longer the game goes on, the more they tire like tonight and we dominated the latter stages. It is there to play for.
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