Mikel Arteta explains why Arsenal assistant was annoyed with Nicolas Pepe and gives Ben White update

Mikel Arteta says the Arsenal coaching staff were perplexed by Nicolas Pepe when he failed to capitalise on an open goal against Leeds United, while he is hopeful Ben White will be fit for the north London derby.

The Gunners went four points clear of Tottenham in the race for Champions League football thanks to a 2-1 victory over Leeds at the Emirates on Sunday, with Eddie Nketiah netting twice early on before the visitors had Luke Ayling sent off.

But rather than racking up the goals, Arsenal conceded mid-way through the second half to Diego Llorente and had a few nervy moments in the final stages of the match.

As relegation-battling Leeds pushed for an equaliser, they sent goalkeeper Illan Meslier forward into the box and substitute Pepe had the chance to run the ball towards an empty net, but he took a poor touch away from goal before being tracked down and tackled by Dan James.

After the match, assistant coach Albert Stuinvenberg gave Pepe an animated dressing down on the pitch, but Arteta played down the exchange – even if he was at something of a loss to explain how the winger wasted such a good opportunity to kill the game.

Asked about Stuinvenberg’s chat with Pepe, Arteta said: ‘When you see that he’s got an empty net in front of him and he’s taking a touch backwards, we cannot really understand.

‘But you have to have the perception of the player in that moment, they are the ones that make the decision. And fortunately we didn’t need that goal.’

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