‘We lacked the spark’

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta conceded his side lacked the creative spark to break down Nottingham Forest after a 00 draw on Wednesday dealt a fresh blow to the Gunnersrsquo Premier League title bidArtetarsquos forward options have been ravaged by injury with Bukayo Saka Gabriel Martinelli Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz all sidelined Arsenal also failed to score in a shock 10 home defeat to West Ham on SaturdayMikel ArtetaArtetarsquos men now trail Liverpool by 13 points Arsenal do have a game in hand on the runaway leaders but their hopes of a first title in 21 years are fading fast Mikel Merino deputised as a makeshift striker and had the visitors only effort on target with a header that Matz Sels saved early in the second halfldquoWe dominated the game We tried to score in many different ways but lacked that spark that final pass to unlock a well organised team We have to generate more shots on targetrdquo said ArtetaArteta said on the eve of the match that his team have not given up on the title race yet He again refused to concede his sidersquos challenge was over but said it was imperative for them to get back to winning waysldquoIt was same a week ago two weeks ago three months ago The only thing we can do is win our matches and see how many points we getrdquo said ArtetaA point kept Forest in third place ahead of defending champions Manchester City Nuno Espirito Santorsquos men have struggled of late winning just one of their last five league games But after three defeats in four the Forest boss was happy to get back to the defensive solidity that has been the bedrock of his sidersquos success this seasonldquoAfter this period we had conceding it was important to go back to basics solid clean sheet The result was positive because it was very important to go back to the team we are It the defence allows us to be successfulrdquo he addedSlot happy with 20 win over NewcastleLiverpool boss Arne Slot hailed his sidersquos winning mentality after surging 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 20 win over Newcastle on WednesdayDominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister were on target either side of halftime as the Reds further stretched their advantage over Arsenal who were earlier held 00 at Nottingham ForestUnbeaten in 24 league games Liverpool are cruising towards a recordequalling 20th English top flight title but just their second in 35 yearsSlot had to make do with a seat in the stands after being handed a twomatch touchline ban for his red card in a fiery Merseyside derby at Everton earlier this month but was pleased with the performances of his chargesldquoDespite All the mental challenges we had the players kept calm and did the things they had to dordquo said Slot ldquoWe make it as hard as possible for the opponents to play against us and normally then our quality makes the differencerdquo the Dutchman addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever