Arteta and Saliba defend Raya’s mistake, stress collective responsibility in defeat to Lens
Arsenal were defeated 2-1 by Lens in Tuesday night’s Champions League match, with goalkeeper David Raya’s inaccurate pass leading to Lens’ first goal. Despite the defeat, both Mikel Arteta and William Saliba rallied to Raya’s defense, highlighting the team’s collective responsibility.
The Gunners took the lead with a goal from Gabriel Jesus, but Lens quickly equalized due to an amazing finish by Adrien Thomasson, who capitalized on Raya’s passing blunder. Elye Wahi then sealed Lens’ victory with a well-executed goal following an impeccable offensive play.
Manager Mikel Arteta accepted Raya’s gaffe but insisted that mistakes are inevitable in football and stated the team’s need to improve on both sides of the field. Arteta underlined that, given Raya’s function as a distribution boost over Aaron Ramsdale, such errors are unavoidable when playing out of the back.
In his post-match press conference, Arteta was asked if it was frustrating to see Raya make a passing error given that he was brought in as an upgrade on Ramsdale with his feet, and he said flatly: ‘No.’
Arteta stated, “Yeah, obviously, we want to stop everything and produce big possibilities for the team to win the game.”
But that’s what happens. Big teams will punish you. Today, we didn’t punish them like we did PSV, and that was the difference in the game.’
Centre-back William Saliba reaffirmed Arteta’s opinions, adding that the team should accept responsibility for the first goal’s collective mistake. Saliba emphasised the importance of team unity in the face of defeats and admitted that surrendering two goals was obviously disappointing for the team.
Arsenal dominated the game but struggled to convert their chances into goals, ultimately falling short and wasting important Champions League points. The game showed a great deal of precision and efficiency in both offensive and defensive parts of the game, showing areas in which the North London team needs to improve as they continue their season in Champions league.
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