Emirates Cup: Arteta reacts to Arsenal’s defeat against Villarreal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reacted to his side’s defeat to Spanish club Villarreal in the Emirates Cup.

Arteta described the 3-2 defeat for the North London club as painful.

This comes as Gunners lost in front of their fans on Wednesday evening.

The game started with Nicolas Pepe opening the scoring against his former club before Karl Etta Eyong doubled Villarreal’s lead.

Arsenal managed to score one goal in return after Christian Norgaard headed in Gabriel Martinelli’s corner-kick.

Arnaut Danjuma raced through to further give the Yellow Submarines an edge, before Martin Odegaard converted a penalty after Max Dowman was fouled.

Speaking after the match, Arteta stated that it was painful to watch.

According to Arteta, Villarreal were super-efficient but his were naïve during the game especially the way they defended open spaces.

“That’s something that, especially the way we play, we have to absolutely nail.

“Today we haven’t been good at all in that department and that has cost us the game, for sure,” he said.

The defeat to Villarreal comes after made some major signings this summer transfer window including sealing a deal for a new striker, Viktor Gyokeres.

Losing to Villarreal is not a good way for the Gunners especially as they hope to win the EPL title next campaign.