Mikel Arteta rued a lack of technology as Arsenal were embroiled in another VAR controversy during Thursday’s 2-0 home defeat to West Ham United, but said his team had plenty of chances to score goals and win.
Tomás Soucek opened the scoring on 13 minutes, but the goal survived a lengthy check as replays suggested the ball may have gone out as Jarrod Bowen pulled it back from the byline to create the chance.
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With the goal given by on-field referee Michael Oliver, there was insufficient evidence from the available camera angles to conclusively determine whether it had left the pitch, replicating a similar incident which saw Anthony Gordon’s strike in the Gunners 1-0 loss at Newcastle United in September stand amid Arsenal’s protests.
Arteta successfully fought a Football Association charge following comments he made in the aftermath of Gordon’s goal and the Gunners boss struck a more conciliatory tone after his side missed out on a chance to go top of the Premier League as Konstantinos Mavropanos sealed West Ham’s victory with a 55th-minute header.
“I haven’t seen it, [but] they’re saying it’s not conclusive,” said Arteta. “It’s a shame that with the technology that we have, that 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 that win the game. With the number of situations we generated in the game, that should have been more than enough.”
Arsenal had 30 shots and ended with an Expected Goals figure of 2.68 after registering 77 touches in West Ham’s box — a record for a team failing to score in a Premier League game since Opta records began in 2008.
“It is what it is,” added Arteta. “We have to try to generate. If we don’t score with 30 shots, then we have to do 50 or 60 to try to score. That’s the only thing. I can’t imagine a game where we have more touches in the box, more dominance and less situations for the opponent against a really good West Ham side. Today though, it wasn’t enough to win the game.”
Meanwhile, West Ham boss David Moyes celebrated his first league win away at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United in 73 attempts by hinting he could soon hold discussions over a new contract.
Moyes, whose existing deal expires at the end of the season, said: “We are getting ready to talk. I don’t think any of us are getting it done too quickly. I don’t see any problems with that.”
