Coach Emery rues loss as unlucky after Blades burst Gunners’ bubble

Arsenal coach Unai Emery dubbed the defeat against Sheffield United as unlucky after having been  condemned to their latest loss by Lys Mousset on Monday.

Arsenal have been waiting for to notch up their first away win in the Premier League since falling to rise up the to the challenge in the opening week of the competition against United.

French forward Mousset punished sloppy Gunners by scoring his second goal since coming from Bournemouth. That goal ended high-flying Arsenal’s eight game winning streak across all the competitions. The north Londoners sit fifth in the league after a powder-puff performance that showed Emery’s rebuilding job is still a work in progress.

But Emery insisted Arsenal deserved at least a draw and rued the decision of failing to give them a penalty for a foul on Sokratis.

“We didn’t deserve to lose. We can speak about two key moments, one is the goal and the other is a clear penalty with Sokratis. With VAR, the foul should have been reviewed, but we have to accept it,” Emery said after Arsenal’s winless run in the city of Sheffield extended to 26 years.

“We had more chances than them. If we scored one goal then we could have controlled better.”

However, he downplayed the talks of wilting under the pressure in away matches.

Emery said: “We prepare for the matches the same home and away and think to win. We deserved more but they are a very strong defensive team.”

Under Emery, Arsenal have kept just two clean sheets in 24 away league matches and once again they wilted too easily in a hostile environment.

“We conceded a lot of corners in the first half and they scored the goal. It can happen. Above all, we have to improve by not allowing balls like that,” Emery said.

“We are playing some young players who are taking experience but the most important thing is to win.”

This was a big win for the Blades after their promotion to the top tier last season as they are in ninth place, just three points behind Arsenal.

With the Bramall Lane crowd in full voice, a bruising clash got off to a contentious start when Sokratis appealed in vain for a penalty after having his shirt tugged by John Egan.

Agence France-Presse