“We Need To Be More Clever” – Arsenal Star Bemoans Mistakes In Man Utd Draw

Shkodran Mustafi bemoans the defensive mistakes which allowed Man United back into the game in our 2-2 draw…

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has bemoaned the defensive mistakes we made to allow Manchester United back into the game as we draw 2-2 at Old Trafford.

Heading into the game as favourites and with the host’s problems in defence, it felt like the 12-year hoodoo was set to end, especially after we went 2-1 up.

However, 30 seconds later, a hopeful punt up front was contested by Romelu Lukaku and after Sead Kolasinac attacked the loose ball, his chest back to Bernd Leno was intercepted by Jesse Lingard to tap home. It was an awful goal to concede.

We didn’t let it drag us down though, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lucas Torreira all had chances to win us the game late on.

For Mustafi, though, we cannot afford to make such errors so quickly after going ahead, especially when playing at a difficult ground such as Old Trafford.

“Second half the game opened up a little bit and both teams were trying to win,” the German international told BT Sport.

“At the end of the day we did quite well and we tried everything to take the three points home. I think we have to be a bit more clever and sensitive of danger not to concede the second one.

“We took four points from two really difficult games and I think we can move on from that.”

When this week is put into context, taking four points from these two games is satisfactory in hindsight and I would’ve probably accepted it if it was offered before the Spurs and Man United games.

The result will mean yet another Premier League campaign without a win at Old Trafford, but the performance certainly told a different story.

We dominated them on their own patch, stamped our authority all over the pitch and came away from it disappointed with a draw. That speaks volumes.