Nuno Tavares speaks out after Mikel Arteta says 'sorry' for subbing him at half time

Nuno Tavares admits Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace on Monday evening was ‘extremely frustrating’ after he was hauled off at half-time by Mikel Arteta.

The 22-year-old started at left-back in place of Kieran Tierney, who is ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery, but had a performance to forget as he was at fault for Jordan Ayew’s goal which doubled Palace’s lead in the first half.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher urged Arteta to bring Tavares off at half time and the £8m signing from Benfica was replaced ahead of the second half.

Tavares has faced calls from supporters to be dropped for Arsenal’s clash with Brighton this Saturday but the defender insists he is keen to ‘learn from the mistakes’.

‘Monday was an extremely frustrating night for me personally, for the team and the fans,’ Tavares posted on his social media accounts.

‘It’s important to pick ourselves up, learn from the mistakes and react positively for Saturday’s game.

‘Still a lot to fight for. COYG.’

When asked about his thinking behind substituting Tavares at half time, Arteta said: ‘Today it was just a tactical reason.

‘How I want to do it with what Palace was doing and how we could attack and control the game much better in that position.

‘We put on another attacking midfielder with Emile in that space and that was the only reason.

‘I’m sorry that it was Nuno again but we had to do it.’

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