Thomas Partey says the Arsenal squad was left sad and frustrated after the 1-1 draw with Brighton on Saturday at the Amex.
17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri gave the Gunners an early lead but it was cancelled out by a Joao Pedro penalty which the Brazilian won.
The Brighton striker nodded on the ball in the penalty area before Arsenal defender William Saliba mistimed his challenge and caught Pedro’s face with his forehead.
It was an unusual situation, but the referee rightly pointed to the spot and that was the end of the scoring on Saturday afternoon.
Partey was looking for the positives of taking a point home to north London, but admitted the Arsenal team were hurting.
‘We are sad, frustrated, everybody is down but that’s part of football,’ he said. ‘We wanted to win, we wanted to keep the momentum going and at the end of the day, we didn’t get it.
‘But it’s also a positive one because we did not lose. We have to try our best and win these games because they’re the most important ones, but it’s not an easy game against a good side and to win here you have to be perfect. We need to forget about today and keep on working hard to win our next game.’
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was also trying to look on the bright side but did say that his team fell away after the break.
‘First of all on the game, this is a really tough place to come,’ said the Spaniard. ‘I think we started the game well and in the first half scored a great goal and didn’t really concede anything.
‘But in the second half, we dropped our standards and level with the ball, giving too many balls away. That never allowed us really to generate momentum and dominance in the game to control and go for the second goal.
‘And without really conceding much apart from that transition moment with Minteh, [the penalty] becomes a decision that is very, very disappointing.’
Arteta did concede that there was contact between Saliba and Pedro, but could not really believe what he was seeing.
‘I’ve never seen a decision like this in my career,’ he said. ‘I asked the boys if they have and nobody has seen it before.
‘When you look at the incident, the distance, the player, Joao Pedro touching the ball and Saliba touching the ball. You can see contact there.’
Arsenal remain second in the Premier League table after the draw, five points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of the Reds hosting Manchester United on Sunday.
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