Mikel Arteta acknowledges Arsenal lacked ‘quality’ in attack during drab draw with Crystal Palace

The Gunners keep a third successive league clean sheet but lack cutting edge in attack

Mikel Arteta (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta pointed to a lack of energy and incision about Arsenal’s play which cost them the chance to take all three points at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday night.

The Gunners came into the game on a run of three Premier League wins on the bounce, plus a weekend success in the FA Cup, but failed to create many clear openings against Roy Hodgson’s team in an eventual 0-0 draw.

While Arteta felt his side put in the required effort and got into some good positions, he acknowledged that there was no killer final ball on show, which led to the Gunners having fewer shots in the match than the visitors despite dominating two-thirds of possession.

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“Some freshness and quality in the final third [was missing]; we generated a lot of entries but without big chances,” Arteta said to Sky Sports after the match.

"We lacked the timing or the last pass [or] shot, and we had to generate more to win the game.

“I would like to see a win and score a few goals and they didn’t happen. Fatigue played a big moment when we started to give difficult balls away and give the transitions. I cannot fault [the players in] this period, they tried until the last minute but it wasn’t enough today.”

One of the notable absences for Arsenal was left-back Kieran Tierney, whose position was filled by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Arteta is unsure as to the extent of the injury suffered by the Scot and says the Gunners, like all teams, will have to find solutions to missing key players over the coming weeks.

“[Tierney] is a real threat and the way we attack that side, he’s an important player but we didn’t have him and had to find solutions. He’s going to have an MRI [scan] tomorrow and we’ll see how he is.

“A lot of teams are in the same position. We lost four [players injured] in the last week. The schedule is crazy and we have to adapt.”