Mikel Arteta will be proud of his Arsenal side for coming back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
Having given Liverpool the Guard of Honour and conceded two quick-fire goals to Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, it looked like things were going from bad to worse for the Gunners.
However, Mikel Arteta must have inspired his Arsenal side during his half-time team talk as Gabriel Martinelli and Mikel Merino got on the scoresheet.
Merino was eventually sent off as well and yet, the visitors managed to hold on and take home a point.
Liverpool fans mock Arsenal and Mikel Arteta
In the lead-up to Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool, Mikel Arteta has made a number of bold statements — namely that his side were the best team in the Champions League after being knocked out by Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals.
Luis Enrique disagreed with Arteta’s comments about the Gunners outplaying them in the second leg as well after the Spaniard revealed PSG’s bench felt that was the case.
Journalist John Cross revealed that several Liverpool fans chanted, “Best team in Europe, you’re having a laugh” as they poked fun at Mikel Arteta after his recent claim about Arsenal.
The Reds supporters might have especially enjoyed taking the mickey out of Arteta, who suggested that Liverpool were a tad fortunate to have won the Premier League due to other teams falling away this season.
Mikel Arteta already knows how to respond to such jibes
Mikel Arteta told Arsenal’s players to bounce back from what has been another painstaking season by handing Liverpool the Guard of Honour and chanelling the disappointment from this season by doing the business in the following campaign — a piece of advice that could help himself as well.
Arteta said: “Something has to drive you, motivate you. The pain probably is a good one to use sometimes, you know, when you don’t really want to do something but it is the right thing to do as a motivation for next season.”
“We will give Liverpool a guard of honour. They deserve it. They have been the better team, they have been the most consistent.”
“That is the sport, when somebody is better then you have to applaud and accept and try to reach that level.”
