Arteta 'cannot understand' Pepe’s decision making after Arsenal victory against Leeds United

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted he could not understand Nicolas Pepe’s decision not to take aim at goal during their 2-1 Premier League victory against Leeds United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Ivory Coast international was at the receiving end at the final whistle of the hotly contested fixture as Arsenal’s assistant coach Albert Stuivenberg was seen giving him a dress down over the miss.

Pepe had just come on for Bukayo Saka with Arsenal leading 2-1 courtesy of Eddie Nketiah’s double and after Arsenal cleared the danger from a Leeds corner, the ball fell kindly at the legs of the winger with Leeds goalkeeper Islan Meslier out of his position.

However, instead of going for a long-range shot, the Ivorian, who looked like he would score into an empty net, decided to cut in on his stronger left foot instead of using his right foot and he took longer with his decision making which allowed defender Daniel James to close in and make an important save.

“When you see that he’s got an empty net in front of him and he’s taking a touch backward, we cannot really understand but you have to have the perception of the player in that moment,” Arteta said on Pepe’s miss as quoted by the club’s official website.

“They are the ones who make the decisions, and fortunately, we didn’t need that goal.”

However, Arteta was happy despite Arsenal picking a narrow win: “Well, we are finding ways to win football matches. The way we played today, especially the first 30 minutes was brilliant.

“So under pressure to play the way we have done in front of our people is a credit to them, but obviously, we have an opponent, and the context changes throughout the game and you don’t expect to be all the time for 95 minutes