Mikel Arteta says ‘the worst thing’ about Arsenal defeat wasn’t Inter Milan’s ‘ridiculous’ penalty

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Arsenal suffered their first Champions League defeat of the season so far as they were beaten 1-0 by Inter Milan on Wednesday evening.

The Gunners dominated possession and territory for large periods of this continental clash, but Inter Milan held firm at the San Siro.

Mikel Arteta’s side have now lost successive matches, having been beaten by Newcastle United last time out in the Premier League prior to this fixture.

As such, the Spanish coach was extremely frustrated in the wake of this setback in Italy.

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Mikel Arteta confesses greatest disappointment after Arsenal’s Champions League loss

Arteta was clearly devastated with the outcome of this game when he spoke after the final whistle.

Speaking on TNT Sports, the Arsenal boss stated: “The worst thing of the night for sure is the result because the dominance, the attitude and the performance we showed against one of the best teams in Europe in this stadium I haven’t seen it in all the games that I watched. 

“The reality though is the result and we had many situations in front of goal that we could have resolved better enough to score at least two goals.”

Whilst it is true that the visitors were able to create chances, performances from individual Arsenal players were far below the standard required in this competition.

Arteta also bemoaned the two penalty decisions, one at either end of the pitch, which went against his side: “Extremely frustrated as well because there are then two decisions that marked the course of the game.”

Were Arsenal unlucky vs Inter Milan?

The North London club perhaps have good reason to feel hard done after this result. Arsenal might have had a penalty after Mikel Merino was clattered by Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer in the first half.

Merino then conceded a spot kick on the stroke of half-time, when he was pulled up for a controversial handball offence. The ball ricocheted onto his arm from a very short distance away.

Former Arsenal star Matt Upson branded Inter Milan’s penalty award “ridiculous.” However, there was nothing fortunate about the way Hakan Calhanoglu stepped up to convert from the spot and set his side on their way to victory. 

The Gunners can quibble with the penalty calls, but they must look at their own performance first and accept that they lacked cutting edge in the final third to a fatal degree in this Champions League test.