Mikel Arteta has cleared up the incident between Nicolas Pepe and his assistant Albert Stuivenberg in the immediate aftermath of Arsenal's 2-1 win over Leeds United.
It was another positive day for the Gunners who moved a step closer to a long-awaited return to the Champions League with a narrow victory over the relegation-threatened visitors. It looked as if it could be a relatively routine day at the office for Arteta’s side with Eddie Nketiah scoring a quickfire brace to put them two goals to the good after just 10 minutes.
Leeds' task then became even more daunting when Luke Ayling was dismissed for a rash challenge on Gabriel Martinelli. Referee Chris Kavanagh initially gave the defender a yellow, but subsequently upgraded to a red following the intervention of VAR.
But rather than run away with the game, the Gunners allowed Leeds back into the game after the break, with Diego Llorente setting up a tense finish. Shortly after Llorente’s strike, Arteta turned to Pepe with the hope he could have an impact against tiring legs.
However, in a season of them, the club’s record signing put in another ineffectual performance and incurred the wrath of Stuivnberg in the closing stages. With Leeds keeper Ilan Meslier forward for a corner, the ball fell to Pepe in his own half, with the chance to run through and fire into an empty net.
But rather than attempt a shot with his weaker right foot, he tried to cut back onto his left, allowing Daniel James to nip in and intercept. Ultimately it counted for nought as Arsenal hung on to move four points clear of Tottenham, but Arteta’s No.2 was seen remonstrating with the Ivorian shortly after the full-time whistle.
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Arteta was asked about the incident in his post-match media commitments, admitting he couldn’t fathom why the forward didn’t try and get off a shot “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,” Arteta explained.
“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.” The win was Arsenal’s fourth in a row, with their run of form coming at the perfect time in the battle for the top-four.
And despite not being at their fluent best, Arteta is delighted to see his team grind out victories: “This is football, if you look at what happened a few days ago in Madrid, nobody can explain. This is the beauty of the game and suffering - unfortunately for all of us, especially the managers - is part of it.
“We are finding ways to win matches. The way we played for the first 35 minutes was brilliant. Under pressure to play we are doing under pressure in front of our people is credit to them.
“But you always have an opponent and the context changes throughout the game and you don’t expect to always be on top for 95 minutes. We are getting better and dealing with it because we are winning matches.”
