Viktor Gyökeres has said that Arsenal weren’t helped by a “dry pitch” at the Emirates Stadium as their Premier League title hopes took a hit with a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Arsenal’s sobering loss — their third in a row domestically — inside a nerve-fuelled Emirates Stadium provides City with the chance to reduce the Gunners’ nine-point lead to six when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Five days after beating Sporting Lisbon in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final, Arsenal were desperately off the boil, but Gyökeres — who equalised from the penalty spot earlier in the game — had a gilt-edged chance late on to make it 2-2. The Sweden striker, however, fell backwards and his shot was deflected wide for a corner.
Asked about the chance by the BBC (via ESPN), Gyökeres said: “We had some OK chances in the end. The pitch was maybe a bit dry there to be honest, so that didn’t help.
“We all need to do better and take our chances.”
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Arsenal face Sporting CP in a Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday, holding a 1-0 first-leg lead, before heading to the Etihad for a potentially pivotal game against Manchester City on April 19.
Should Pep Guardiola’s side triumph in that match, see off Chelsea on Sunday, and also beat Burnley on April 22 they would be level on points with the Gunners with five games remaining.
But Gyökeres, like his boss Mikel Arteta, said Arsenal were still confident moving forwards.
“Yeah, very confident,” he said. “I think we don’t need to get stuck too much on what happened today and look forward. Think positive and look forward to the games.”
