Bellerin says Arsenal can only blame themselves for 'losing games'
‘We’re beating ourselves’: Hector Bellerin bluntly confesses that Arsenal can only blame themselves as they are ‘losing games’ after Slavia Prague earned a last-gasp draw in Europe
- Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin says ‘teams are not beating us, it’s us losing the games’
- It comes after Arsenal conceded an injury-time equaliser against Slavia Prague
- He expressed his concern at Holes’ equaliser, saying ‘it’s happened to us before’
- The defender says that they must work on ‘controlling and managing the game’
Hector Bellerin admitted ‘teams are not beating us, it’s us losing the games’ after Arsenal’s dismal display saw them concede an injury-time equaliser against Slavia Prague in the Europa League.
Bellerin says the Gunners did well to take the lead in their Europa League quarter-final first leg after Nicolas Pepe’s 86th minute goal, but expressed his concern at Tomas Holes’ equaliser – saying ‘it’s happened to us before’.
The defender says Arsenal must work on ‘controlling and managing the game’ but insists they will ‘do the job’ in the second leg.
Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin (above) admitted ‘teams are not beating us, it’s us losing the games
Speaking after the game Bellerin told BT sport that Arsenal only had themselves to blame for throwing away their advantage.
He said: ‘I have to say, I felt like we had the game under control for the whole time but the last five minutes,’ said Bellerin.
‘We had chances to score, we get to 1-0 in the 85th minute, and then it’s about us controlling and managing the game.
‘We put ourselves in situations that we shouldn’t be at that stage and it has happened to us before.
Bellerin says the Gunners did well to take the lead in their Europa League quarter-final first leg
He then expressed his concern at Tomas Holes’ equaliser, saying ‘it’s happened to us before’
‘It is something that is in our hands and I’ve said it before – teams are not beating us, it’s us losing the games.’
Mikel Arteta’s side were wasteful and missed chances to put themselves out of sight earlier in the game.
Bukayo Saka missed a golden opportunity to see Arsenal take the lead against Slavia Prague in the first half.
Rob Holding sent the ball through to the 19-year-old, who fired his shot wide during a 1v1 with goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar.
Holding went on to create a chance of his own, heading the ball towards goal before Kolar tipped it over the bar.
Willian followed suit, hitting the post with a free-kick, before Alexandre Lacazette went on to hit the crossbar.
Mikel Arteta’s side were wasteful and missed chances to put themselves out of sight
Bellerin remains confident that Arsenal will get the ‘job done’ during their second leg
Despite a series of failed attempts on Thursday, Bellerin remains confident that Arsenal will get the job done against Slavia Prague in their Europa League quarter-final second leg.
He said: ‘It’s difficult to take, but at the end of the day there’s still everything to play for and it’s 1-1.
‘We know how they play and I think we had really good moments in the game. We broke down their pressure and we created chances, so there’s nothing that worries me for us to go to Prague and do the job there.
‘You can blame it on anything you want, but at the end of the day it comes down to the goals we score and the goals we concede, and I think throughout the game we put ourselves in situations that we could have taken the lead, but this is football.
‘You’ve got to keep trying, you’ve got to keep trying, and in another game we will score them but today wasn’t the day.’
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