Playing in the Premier League with 10 men “an impossible task”

Mikel Arteta has highlighted discipline as one of the most important tasks for Arsenal after the Gunners suffered their third red card of the season in an away defeat at Bournemouth.

With the game in the balance, a loose back pass from Arsenal sent Evanilson towards goal before he was clumsily brought down by William Saliba, who was shown red for preventing a clear scoring opportunity.

From then on it was an uphill battle for Arsenal. While they kept the game deadlocked until the 70th minute^Th The luck ended in the minute when Ryan Christie shot a long-range goal past David Raya. The win was cemented nine minutes later when Justin Kluivert scored a penalty, doubling the hosts’ lead.

In his full-time speech, Mikel Arteta lamented his team’s increasing discipline problem.

He said: “Playing at this level with 10 men for 65 or 68 minutes is just an impossible task. “It’s an accident waiting to happen to avoid taking the points.

“I don’t know what else we can do if we have to play away in this league. It’s hard enough to do it with 11 men, so what we did with 10 was pretty remarkable in my opinion.

“We are very disappointed with the result and disappointed because we had to play again in this context. I can’t blame the team for their effort, commitment and playing the way we had to.”

The defeat is Arsenal’s first of the season and first competitive defeat since Bayern Munich knocked them out of the Champions League in April.

Saliba’s sending off played a crucial role in the game but Arteta refused to blame the Frenchman.

“What happens today is almost unpredictable – that the winger will play the ball with one touch to the centre-back. It’s very difficult to plan.”

However, he admitted Arsenal will not be able to challenge for the title unless they find a workaround, saying: “We have to play 11-a-side if we want to be in the position we want to be in .”

Arsenal will have a chance to return to winning ways on Tuesday evening when they host Shaktar Donetsk in the Champions League.

Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images via One Football