Izuchukwu OkosiArsenal manager Mikel Arteta Thursday night berated the poor performance of his players in the defeat to PSV in Matchday 5 of the competition reports Prime Business Africa.
Goals from Joey Veerman and substitute Luuk De Jong condemned the Gunners to their first defeat in the Europa League this season, and only their second in all competitions.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelTop spot in Group A is still unconfirmed following FC Zurich’s 2-1 win against Bodo/Glimt same time with the playoffs into the UEFA Conference League a source of motivation to both teams next week.
Gabriel Martinelli blazed over from well inside the PSV box 38 minutes in, with the lack of quality from both teams evident in the first half.
Arsenal boss Arteta was admittedly disappointed with how his side performed, as they lacked the necessary grit and determination that had been the forefront of the Gunners’ success this season, with the home side deserved winners in front of their own fans.
“It’s the end of a long run and now it’s time to reset and analyse what happened,” Arteta said. “PSV deserved to win no question, we were nowhere near our level today.
“Last week the game was all ours. Today it was very different and when you play like that against the top teams it’s very difficult to win.
“Today we were extremely poor.”
Arsenal will focus on Premier League commitment before then as they face Nottingham Forest this Sunday afternoon.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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