Mikel Arteta got Thomas Partey back on the field despite him being injured during the Arsenal clash with Tottenham.
And the Arsenal head coach has offered an explanation for this. He explains that he pushed Partey back on the pitch in order to deny Tottenham from scoring a goal.
“He has to stay on the pitch,” he told BBC Sport. “I applaud their first goal, it is world class, but the second goal we are a man down, we leave a massive gap and they take advantage.
“After that we dominated, they didn’t have any chances, but they win the game. I don’t know what else we can do. If we can’t score goals we cannot improve our situation.”
Arteta further elaborated on the Partey incident in his post-game press conference, saying: “I was trying to push him. I didn’t think he realised the gravity of the situation when he left his position. But probably that was because he was in a lot of pain. There’s nothing we can do at the moment to resolve that.
“I think it was a four-against-three situation for us and suddenly they are coming to us and Thomas was walking to me. I tried to push him. I haven’t spoken to him. I don’t know exactly how it happened, but he felt something really serious.”
“I saw a team full of passion, dominating the team and creating chances but in the end it is about the end product and that is why they are top of the table,” Arteta added to Sky Sports. “I think we had 44 crosses.
“The fight and the spirit and the way they played in this stadium is to be applauded but it is not enough to win football matches because we are not scoring goals.”
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