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Arteta - We had the chances to win it

Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta was left disappointed at Arsenal’s failure to turn their second-half dominance into goals against Chelsea on Monday night.

The Gunners twice came close through Olivier Giroud late on as they pushed Jose Mourinho’s side on to the back foot, but could not find the breakthrough.

Arteta was left to rue a missed opportunity, but says the Gunners also had to be wary of the visitors’ threat on the counter-attack.

"It is not a bad result but I think we had enough chances in the second half to win it"

Mikel Arteta

“You have to have that in the back of your mind because you know they have the quality and speed and know what they are doing,” the vice-captain said.

“But I thought we controlled them; they had Lampard’s chance in the whole game. I think we lost two points there. It is not a bad result but I think we had enough chances in the second half to win it.

“It is a shame because you could see that they only want to defend and the substitutions they made they were happy to sit back and defend. We threw everything up to try to score and it is a shame that we didn’t.”

With two points separating the top five teams in the Premier League, Arteta believes the festive period could prove to be telling.

“It is one of the most difficult leagues to win this season and this period is going to be a big challenge all the teams. It will be very interesting,” he said.