Mikel Arteta Unhappy With Arsenal's Sloppy Champions League Win

Arsenal secured a third victory in four Champions League matches after defeating Slavia Prague 2-1, but Mikel Arteta was far from satisfied. Read Also: Harry Kane Becomes Europe's Highest-paid Player After New Deal At Bayern Munich Noni Madueke opened the scoring after nine minutes before Viktor Gyökeres doubled the advantage with a stylish finish before half-time.

However, the Gunners struggled after the break as their opponents increased the pressure and exposed several defensive weaknesses. Gabriel twice cleared dangerous headers off the goal line, while David Raya produced an outstanding save to deny Oskar Kubiak.

Arsenal eventually conceded in the final minute when Wiktor Nowak converted David Jurasek's cross, leaving the visitors defending their narrow advantage during stoppage time. Arteta Demands Better Second-Half Performance Speaking to TNT Sports, as reported by Independent, Arteta admitted his team delivered two contrasting performances, particularly criticising their lack of control after the interval.

"Two very different halves," he said. "The first one, I think we played at a really high level, exceptional at times.

The scoreline should have reflected three or four goals." He added: "The second half we were on the back foot, very sloppy. We gave so many balls away, so many bad clearances, we didn't keep the ball or the structure at all." Raya also acknowledged Arsenal struggled against Slavia Prague's increased intensity after half-time.

"I think they went up a gear and we were a little bit surprised," the goalkeeper explained. The Spaniard also praised the importance of securing three points despite the difficult finish.

Arsenal will now look to address those second-half problems as they continue their Champions League campaign, with Arteta demanding greater control.