Not VAR? Arteta explains the real reason Arsenal lost to West Ham

The Gunners boss gave a realistic opinion on the West Ham defeat that cost his side a chance to go top of the Premier League.

Despite another controversial VAR decision, Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s inability to score was the real reason for their defeat to West Ham.

The manager acknowledged that his side had more than enough chances to win the game.

On Thursday, West Ham stole local bragging rights by beating Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates. Tomas Soucek put the Hammers in front in the 13th minute. The validity of his goal was questioned though, as Jarrod Bowen appeared to bring the ball back into play from the byline during the build-up.

“I haven’t seen it, [but] they’re saying it’s not conclusive,” Arsenal manager Arteta said at a post-match press conference.

“It’s a shame that with the technology that we have, it’s not that clear so that we can say whether it’s out or in. It’s done, it’s gone. There’s nothing we can do about it now.

“If the technology we have at the moment is not good enough to give us that answer, what we have to do is without win the game. With the number of situations we generated in the game, that should have been more than enough.”

Former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos scored West Ham’s second goal to seal the London derby victory.

Arsenal had 30 shots compared to West Ham’s six, but only eight were on target. The Gunners also had 77 touches in the Hammers box. This was a new record number for a team that failed to score in a match in the Premier League since Opta began recording the stat in 2008.

Arteta will now need to prepare his team for Sunday’s trip to Fulham at Craven Cottage.