Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has urged his players to channel the “pain” of their disappointing 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers into a positive response when they face rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Sunday’s North London derby.
The Gunners appeared set for a routine victory on Wednesday night after Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapié handed them a 2-0 lead at Molineux.
However, Wolves staged a late comeback through Hugo Bueno and Tom Edozie to force a draw that dealt a blow to Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions.
The result means Arsenal have now won just two of their last seven league matches, having also dropped points in a recent stalemate against Brentford.
Speaking after the game, Arteta admitted the result was difficult to take but insisted the team must respond quickly.
“I’m going to be the first one to be close with them because it has nothing to do with attitude or desire, it is completely the opposite,” he said.
“It’s part of football. Where it could’ve gone wrong today, it went wrong.
“If you are at the top you have to win and win, that’s nothing new.”
Arsenal will now turn their attention to a crucial derby clash away at Tottenham on Sunday, with Arteta calling on his players to use the setback as motivation.
“We need to go through the pain and go through it looking in the mirror and understand what the game requires now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Saka admitted the dressing room was left deflated by the dropped points.
“It’s pretty flat. We’re pretty disappointed with the result, it’s the only way to describe it,” he told Arsenal’s official website.
“I think it’s a game of two halves. In the first half we started so well but in the second half we dropped the level and got punished for it.”
Looking ahead to the derby, the England international added: “It was already a big game and now it’s still a big game. It’s still in our control so we just need to focus on that, fix the issues we’re having now and get back to winning ways.”
