Arteta: What Arsenal must avoid to keep winning games

After a 2-2 UEFA Europa League draw against Sporting Lisbon, Mikel Arteta has pointed out what Arsenal must do to keep winning.

The Gunners had to fight back to avoid a defeat against the Portuguese side, but the fact that they have struggled to keep clean sheets is something that worries the boss.

Arsenal initially took the lead when William Saliba scored before Lisbon equalized through Gonçalo Inácio. An own goal by Lisbon’s Hidemasa Morita and a strike by Paulinho for the home side saw the duel end in a draw.

"When you concede two poor goals like we did away from home in Europe, it's very difficult to get a positive result," said Arteta.

"The game had different phases because we gave too many simple balls away in our own half and gave them the capacity to (exploit) transition moments, which they are good at.

"In other moments, we had total control of the game, and we lost a little bit of threat today, especially with the four players we are missing in our frontline."

Despite his concern about goals conceded, the Spaniard picked up positives from the game held in the Portuguese capital city.

"Some positives because we showed a lot of resilience to get back in the game, but we need to defend our box much better and be better on Sunday," he added.

"We've played some really emotional games recently. We made a lot of changes today [Thursday], and sometimes that takes time to get that cohesion.

"You could feel in the first 15 minutes that it needed some time to adapt and click. If we don't expose them, though, that's never going to happen."

After the draw, the North London side recorded an unwanted history as they have now won only one of their last six European knockout stage games (D3 L2).