Mikel Arteta says Arsenal ‘cannot cry’ after title push dented by Fulham draw

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal “cannot cry” or feel sorry for themselves after they squandered the chance to move to within four points of Liverpool in the race for the Premier League title.

William Saliba cancelled out Raul Jimenez’s first-half opener for Fulham before Bukayo Saka looked to have handed Arsenal a fifth straight win when he converted Gabriel Martinelli’s cross in the 88th minute.

However, the England international’s last-gasp strike was ruled out following a VAR intervention with Martinelli just offside in the build-up as the match finished 1-1.

Although Arteta’s side reduced the gap to Liverpool from seven to six points, Arne Slot’s men now have a game in hand after their match against Everton was postponed. Arsenal also failed to take advantage of Manchester City’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“I am gutted that we didn’t win it because we deserved to win from the beginning to the end,” said Arteta.

“We did almost everything that we had to do to win it, and, but for millimetres we could have been sitting here with three points after a really strong and dominant performance against a really good team.

“You cannot cry about it, and that’s the beauty of this league, too.

Two in two matches for William Saliba, and yet another set-piece goal from @Arsenal!