‘That is still a good point for us'

Per Mertesacker spoke to the media after Arsenal’s draw at Liverpool. Below is a transcript of what he said:

on a frustrating end…
They put pressure on us until the last second. We suffered a bit in the second half but we will take the point. We are obviously disappointed with how it went at the end but we couldn’t keep the ball as much as we wanted - especially in the second half. They put a lot of pressure on us in the last 10 minutes. Benteke came on and they were more dangerous. We will continue with that point and it is still a good point for us and we are still at the top.

on fighting back into the match…
We came back twice so they gave us a lot of confidence in the second half. It was such an intense game for both sides. The fans carried the - especially at the end. Maybe they deserved it with how they played in the last 10 minutes and we will take the point. We are a bit disappointed in the end but we will take it.

on feeling like a defeat…
Not at all. I feel we gave absolutely everything until the end. When you give your best until the end that is always a success. We will take the point and we will continue and we are in a situation where we can drop points and it was not what we wanted. They put a lot pressure on us in the end and maybe they deserved to score at the end because we could not get out of this situation. On the counter we were not good enough and we suffered in the last 10 minutes. We came back twice and scored the third and took the lead for a long time in the second half. That must give us more confidence for the game against Stoke on Sunday.

on the first 20 minutes…
It is what it is in the Premier League. It was an intense game and was back and forth and what we saw today ws a brilliant display from two sides that gave absolutely everything to take the point. I’m happy with the effort but not 100 per cent happy with the result and we will carry on.

on the rest of the results…
We showed great team effort - especially over the Christmas period. That is why we are at the top and we need to continue to take the points especially away from home and we have another chance on Sunday and the team is doing brilliantly and putting everything in.