Draw after draw, Arsenal tied three of those in the Premier League and gave Manchester City a chance to leapfrog them in the table. And while in the previous two matches the London team gave up a two-goal advantage, this evening against Southampton they made up for an identical deficit and avoided defeat, a potential fourth this season in the Premier League.During the press conference after the game, Mikel Arteta emphasized that he loves his players more than ever before – because they showed character, even though his boys squandered a point advantage over the champions of England.The Gunners came back from a two-goal deficit twice, managed to return in the finish, and almost came close to overturning the result in added time. Although, the Spanish expert points out, they deserved it.”I’m empty, obviously, because it was a very emotional game and I’m disappointed because we didn’t get the three points. After everything that happened in the game, I still think we deserved them, but we have to look in the mirror because we allowed the opponent three very ‘easy’ goals and when you do that it’s extremely difficult to win in this league. However, I have to say that because of the way the team reacted, the way they reacted individually, I love our players more than ever,” Arteta said to the press.Europe is slipping away from Liverpool, Emery turns the ‘Island’ on it’s head as Villa attack the Champions League spotsArsenal are currently five points ahead of Manchester City, but also two games ahead of Citizens. So defeat at the Etihad next Wednesday is not an option.”I think we all need to switch off tonight, digest this and start thinking tomorrow what is the best way to go to Manchester and get them (City).”Arteta assures that the points dropped against West Ham and Liverpool did not affect his team’s confidence too much.”I don’t see a lack of confidence when the team is capable of doing what we did tonight. At certain moments it’s normal for players to start hiding, but I didn’t see a single player do that, they were ready to take risks, to take the initiative. That’s why we created so many chances, that’s why we came back from 1-3 to 3-3 and we should have won that game. So the confidence is there, we just need to overcome those moments of weakness.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7199120##What specific weaknesses?”When we win I try to give an explanation. When we draw I try to give an explanation. Today everything is clear. You can’t concede three goals the way we did today and expect to win a game in the Premier League unless you do a miracle or you play like we did in the last 15 minutes. Only then do you have a chance to win anyway. We were on our way back and then we conceded another sloppy half-time goal and the whole set-up at that point was not good. We should have won this game. We created enough chances but it didn’t happen at the end and that’s why we’re definitely disappointed.”Finally, journalists asked him if he could understand why everyone sees City as the favorite in the championship race?”We can’t control that,” Arteta was brief.
