Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal only have themselves to blame after Wolves draw

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admitted his team have only got themselves to blame after surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with rock-bottom Wolves at Molineux.

Bukayo Saka netted his fifth goal of the season to give Arsenal an early lead and they doubled their advantage 11 minutes into the second half through Piero Hincapie’s first goal for the club which put the Gunners in a commanding position.

Hugo Bueno’s sensational strike halved the deficit just after the hour mark, and they left it late to strike doubt into Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes when Tom Edozie climbed off the bench to score the equaliser on his debut.

Arsenal are now only five points ahead of Manchester City having played a game more and have now won just two of their last seven league matches.

Gunners boss Arteta insists his team were nowhere near their best and have to look at themselves for dropping points once again.

“Extremely disappointed obviously with the result and with the way the game ended but we have to blame ourselves,” Arteta said.

“The performance in the second half we didn’t show anything close to the standards required in this league to win. It’s a moment of disappointment, we want to talk a lot about how we’re feeling but it’s not the moment to do that.

“When you are at this level and at the top you need to take the hit, today we deserved. On Sunday we have a big game coming up.

“It was one moment after another moment after another moment. Even though we scored the second goal we never had dominance of the game that’s the reality.”

Arsenal have held leads in each of the last three title races but have gone on to finish second in each season, and Wednesday’s draw may have brought up bad memories that they may once again come second after relinquishing a lead.

Arteta says his team have to accept every criticism that comes their way and need to bounce back against Tottenham on Sunday.

He added: “That’s credit obviously to Wolves, they can’t be underestimated. It’s very basic things and simple things that today we did really wrong and that’s why we had the feeling without conceding much, when the game is open that kind of thing can happen.

“Any question, criticism, opinion, you have to take it on the chin today. That’s it. Any bullet, take it because we didn’t perform at the level required, Anything anybody says can be right because we didn’t do what we had to do. The way to do it is on the pitch on Sunday in another great opportunity we have.

“We have always done it but if you are strong you need to show it next time. To say it here is simple but we have to show it on the pitch.”

Wolves boss Rob Edwards saw his side pick up a second successive draw and was proud of the belief his side showed to gain an unlikely point.

“It’s nice to get a late equaliser and especially when you’re 2-0 down against a team like that.

“We’re up against Arsenal, everyone needs to have a bit of perspective. In the first 20-30 mins it was everything we expected the game to be like.

“We stayed in the game and that was important. We showed belief and played with a bit more emotion. To show that character and quality and all of that. It might be easier for the lads to lose belief but that’s not the case.”