London [UK], March 19 (ANI): After Arsenal were beaten by Olympiacos in the Europa League Round of 16 second-leg match, manager Mikel Arteta said that his side’s performance was nowhere near the standards they have set for themselves.
Arsenal suffered a 0-1 defeat in the match. However, Arteta’s men had won the first-leg match 3-1, meaning they progress in the competition with a 3-2 win on aggregate.
“I am pleased because we are through and last year we went out by them. If I have to evaluate the performance with what we’ve done today with the ball in particular, then it’s nowhere near the standards we have set for ourselves,” the club’s official website quoted Arteta as saying.
“We made it really difficult because we didn’t have any stability when you give the amount of balls away that we have in the game. When that happens, you don’t have the control to manage the tie in the way that we should have done and that’s related to the amount of chances we missed again,” he added.
Although the manager is happy with his team advancing in the Europa League, Arteta cautioned his players saying that the competition will be now “even tougher”.
“Yes, we are really happy with that. It’s enough step forward as a team so hopefully we can learn some lessons today and be ready because it will be even tougher. It’s true that we have beaten tough teams in Benfica and Olympiacos, but the next one will be even tougher,” he said.
Arsenal will next play against West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday. (ANI)