Mikel Arteta says Arsenal are actually ‘not good’ at doing one thing despite 5-1 win vs Sporting

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Arsenal rocked the Estadio Jose Alvalade in the Champions League, beating Sporting CP 5-1.

The Gunners shone in Lisbon to thrash Sporting CP 5-1 on match day five of the new Champions League format.

Before Arsenal’s visit, the Portuguese champions were unbeaten at home for the season, telling of how efficient Mikel Arteta’s side were.

Portuguese media were left in awe of Arsenal following the dramatic 90 minutes in what was a near-faultless display from the visitors.

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Mikel Arteta is not happy with Arsenal despite Sporting CP win

Arteta needed his squad to get a win on the road in Europe as the Gunners’ record away from home in the Champions League was far from desirable.

By opening the scoring, Gabriel Martinelli netted Arsenal’s first European away goal in 11 months, reinforcing the value of three points.

While there was plenty for the Arsenal manager to celebrate, the Spaniard admitted he still was ‘not happy’ with one element of his side’s display in Lisbon.

In the post-match press conference, a journalist quizzed Arteta on wanting his squad to be more ruthless when it matters.

“You cannot speculate and we had a period after 39, 40 minutes that we started to do that and I had to stop it because that’s the tendency the team wants to do, to control it,” the boss said. 

“We are not good at doing that. Unfortunately, they scored very early in the second half and that created some momentum.”

While the former midfielder wanted to see an entirely controlled performance from his Arsenal squad, he still couldn’t deny how well the Gunners did on the night.

“We dealt with it really well. As I said, it was a big performance, a big win, and we’re really happy,” Arteta concluded.

Arsenal avoided unwanted Champions League history 

Going into the game, Arsenal hadn’t won in their previous five away games in the Champions League, not even scoring in the past four.

There was history on offer for Arteta if the Gunners hadn’t won and unwanted history at that, as the North Londoners could have joined Manchester United in an ugly feat.

Only the Red Devils had failed to score in five consecutive Champions League away games, which happened over the span of October 2004 and November 2005.

Fortunately, Arteta avoided the feat however, it was still an occasion for the record books, as William Saliba wrote himself in Arsenal history after making his 100th appearance.