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The Gunners once again fought in front of goal against Dean Smith’s side to equal an unwanted milestone.
Arsenal’s failure to hit the back of the net in Sunday’s loss to Aston Villa means they have now scored the fewest goals at this stage of the season in 22 years.
A double by Ollie Watkins and an own goal by Buyako Saka earned Villa all three points at Emirates Stadium, and the Gunners failed to score for the third time in four Premier League games.
It means that Mikel Arteta’s team has scored just nine goals in eight Premier League games this season; the fewest at this stage of a league campaign since 1998-99. It was also their worst loss in the league at home since a 3-0 loss to Manchester City in December 2019.
His struggles against Villa were perhaps symbolized by the performance of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who played 90 minutes in a Premier League home game without attempting a shot for the first time as a member of Arsenal.
Speaking after the game, Arteta took full responsibility for his team’s “unacceptable” performance against the Villans.
“Well first to congratulate Aston Villa for the victory and the way they played, I thought they were strong and obviously from our side I take full responsibility because the performance we did from the beginning is not acceptable,” he said. BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I will keep private what I told my players in the dressing room, my role is to make the team perform at the highest level every three days and today we have not done it and since they appointed me it is the first time that I have not seen that team on the field.
“This is football and when you are not in the races and you are not in your best teams they destroy you in the Premier League. It is a really bad combination if you do not win the duels, you are late and they are more focused, they are more determined for each ball, if you don’t defend your area well and you have chances but you don’t keep them.
“No, we are not creating enough chances, but the ones we created were clear enough to score at least one goal, but if you look at the numbers of [the] the latest games is not enough. “
A miserable night for Arsenal was compounded by an injury to Thomas Partey, who was forced to retire at half-time with a suspected thigh injury.
He is the latest player to suffer a muscle injury in recent weeks, with the hectic national and European schedules taking their toll.
That has reignited the debate over the use of five substitutes, which was allowed during the summer restart but was rescinded following a vote by Premier League clubs at the start of the season.
Arteta reiterated his support for the five substitutes rule, but accepts that it is out of his hands.
“Thomas Partey is injured,” added the Spaniard. “I support the rule of the five substitutes but I am also in favor of the possibility of having 20 players in the squad, but that is another story that we cannot control.”
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