Cape Town - Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta feels the most disappointing aspect of his side's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Saturday was that they played very well without reward.
The Gunners put in a dominant showing at the Emirates, bossing the first half in particular, but despite this they entered the break a goal down after Kieran Gibbs put the ball into his own net.
A breakaway goal from Wayne Rooney in the second half saw United double their advantage before Olivier Giroud grabbed one back for the hosts in the dying moments of the game.
Reflecting on the performance, Arteta bemoaned that they were unable to take even a point away from a strong performance.
"We played our best game of the season, but it is about being ruthless for sure because when you are inside the box, and you cannot manage to score in that many situations, you cannot expect to win a football game," Football411 quotes him as saying.
With a Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund looming large on the horizon, Arteta knows that his side cannot afford to dwell on their defeat.
"When you lose, there is something which is not going well, but we cannot forget (what we have done well) as that creates a lack of belief and confidence if you just take a lot of negatives at the end when you have lost the game," he asserted.
"We have been too inconsistent at home and dropped too many points already, but we have been saying that for weeks now and we need to turn that around."
The Gunners put in a dominant showing at the Emirates, bossing the first half in particular, but despite this they entered the break a goal down after Kieran Gibbs put the ball into his own net.
A breakaway goal from Wayne Rooney in the second half saw United double their advantage before Olivier Giroud grabbed one back for the hosts in the dying moments of the game.
Reflecting on the performance, Arteta bemoaned that they were unable to take even a point away from a strong performance.
"We played our best game of the season, but it is about being ruthless for sure because when you are inside the box, and you cannot manage to score in that many situations, you cannot expect to win a football game," Football411 quotes him as saying.
With a Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund looming large on the horizon, Arteta knows that his side cannot afford to dwell on their defeat.
"When you lose, there is something which is not going well, but we cannot forget (what we have done well) as that creates a lack of belief and confidence if you just take a lot of negatives at the end when you have lost the game," he asserted.
"We have been too inconsistent at home and dropped too many points already, but we have been saying that for weeks now and we need to turn that around."