Arsenal star Xhaka admits Brentford regret and opens up on title race

Mikel Arteta reviews Arsenal v Brentford

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Arsenal star Granit Xhaka admitted to having regrets after the Gunners’ controversial 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday. Mikel Arteta’s outfit dropped points in their second consecutive Premier League game for the first time this season as they handed an opportunity to Manchester City in the title race.

January signing Leandro Trossard gave Arsenal the lead at the Emirates with a first-time finish from Bukayo Saka’s cross, though Ivan Toney equalised with a goal that was scrutinised at full-time. VAR official Lee Mason reportedly forgot to draw the offside lines when checking the goal, as Christian Norgaard was in an offside position before he set up the goal as Arteta was left incensed.

Thomas Frank’s side impressed at the Emirates and were good value for a point as they continued their good form amid their 10-game unbeaten run, though Xhaka admitted that having taken the lead Arsenal should have held onto the victory.

“We know [some teams] are going to drop deep, hoping for set-pieces or second balls or something else, and we are training for that as well, but it is not always easy,” Xhaka admitted. “Brentford did a good job without the ball – but if you break them like we did with the 1-0, you have to take the three points.”

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Arsenal could have gone eight points clear of Manchester City with a victory against Brentford, with an opportunity to extend their lead even further as the two sides meet in north London on Wednesday. When asked if the Gunners were keeping an eye on Pep Guardiola’s outfit, Xhaka unconvincingly replied: “If we are honest, we are not speaking about them. We are looking at ourselves, game by game. And Wednesday is big – for them, for us. So, let’s see.”

Arsenal are not in the ideal form ahead of such an important fixture in midweek, having previously suffered defeat away to Everton before a second unimpressive performance against Brentford. The Gunners struggled to contain Toney and Bryan Mbeumo and have kept just two clean sheets at home in the Premier League all season.

While they were also outfought at Goodison Park in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of Everton as James Tarkowski scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory, as jitters may have started to arise at Arsenal. Arteta felt that his side should have claimed the victory over Brentford, however, as he slammed the officials after the game.

“I just looked back and it is offside, yes,” said Arteta. “The action when you get blocked when you are offside – you cannot block if you are offside.

“You have to apply certain principles in defending and you do that by sticking to the rules. Suddenly you change the rules and then you have to change your principles. So tell us before, so then you don’t hide the line that high, because you’re always going to have an advantage if you get blocked.”

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