Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Arsenal vs Anderlecht reaction: Mikel Arteta says Gunners 'threw everything away'

Gunners stunned by fight-back having led 3-0

Agency
Tuesday 04 November 2014 23:28 GMT
Comments

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal "threw everything away" as they surrendered a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Anderlecht in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Arteta's penalty and Alexis Sanchez's brilliant volley put the hosts firmly in the driving seat at half-time before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked to have sealed all three points with a third early in the second half.

However, Anthony Vanden Borre gave the visitors hope just after the hour with a close-range header and the former Portsmouth defender then added another from the penalty spot to make it 3-2.

Anderlecht claimed the equaliser which meant Arsenal missed the chance to book their place in the Champions League knockout stages when substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic headed home in the 90th minute.

"The main aim when you start the competition (is winning the group), so we threw everything away today," Arteta told Sky Sports 5.

"We have another two chances still, but you can't miss a chance in the Champions League as every team has qualities and you saw what happened today.

"We cannot afford to make the mistakes and concede three goals after going 3-0 up. It's not good enough. We're very disappointed and we missed a great opportunity to finish the job properly.

"We know what we're playing for and it was a massive day for us today. What happened in the second half is not the level required at this club."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in