Arsenal suffered their second defeat of the season after losing to Aston Villa on Saturday, but striker Victor Goqueres knows exactly what he needs to do to get the Gunners back on track.
Victor Gokeres has called on his Arsenal teammates to be more creative after their title hopes ended against Aston Villa. Mikel Arteta’s side suffered their second defeat of the season at Villa Park.
Matty Cash gave Unai Emery’s side a first-half lead in the Midlands, but Leandro Trossard equalized for Arsenal. However, Argentina’s playmaker Emi Buendia scored a goal late on, and the hosts’ attack was not denied. As a result, Arsenal remain at the top of the table, albeit with just a two-point advantage over their nearest rivals Manchester City.
Gökeres handed down a losing verdict and revealed that the locker room was particularly run down. He said: “Obviously I’m disappointed with this result. I don’t feel very good right now, but it’s still December and we have a lot of games to play.
“You can always find positives, but it’s still very difficult to lose a football match. It’s tough right now, but we’re looking forward to the next game soon.”
read more: Arsenal’s next five games compared to Aston Villa and Man City as Premier League gap narrowsread more: David Raya’s furious reaction after Arsenal’s dramatic conceded victory over Aston Villa
Gokeres, a big-money move from Sporting Lisbon, has only scored four Premier League goals for Arsenal this season, his last coming in a 2-0 win over newly promoted Burnley in November. However, the Swedish frontman believes if the Gunners can keep creating chances, the goals will start flowing.
“We just have to keep creating chances and keep taking shots on goal, because then in the end we can score more goals. So of course that’s a positive thing, but we also need to improve a little bit in between.”
“This is football. If you score in the last seconds or minutes, it’s an incredible feeling. So it goes both ways. Today, unfortunately, it was the other way around. It’s tough, but you learn from it.”
“I think if we just focus on what we can control, what we can do to our advantage and focus on the next game, we’ll be better.”
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Arsenal will turn their attention to the Champions League in midweek as they take on Belgian side Club Brugge. And by welcoming rock-bottom Wolves to the Emirates next weekend, they have the ideal opportunity to get back to winning ways.
Speaking about the impact of the defeat on his side’s title ambitions, manager Mikel Arteta said: “That’s the league. You go to Old Trafford, you go to St James’s Park, you go to Chelsea and you come here. We were in a lot of difficult situations, but today the result could have been different.”
“The reality is that’s not the case. That’s the step we have to take. We’re 18 games unbeaten and we’re still there, very close to each other. That’s the level of the league and we know it.”
“That’s the opportunity we have in front of us and that’s it. Now it’s time to bounce back. They gave me every good reason to think we can continue to perform at the same level, because what they tried to do today with the schedule we had was great as well. So (we) move on.”
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