Europa League: Arteta slams Ten Hag's injury dig after Sporting Lisbon boots Arsenal out
UEFA Europa League 2022-23: Arsenal's bid for its maiden Europan trophy continues after being knocked out in the pre-quarters by Sporting Lisbon, while club boss Mikel Arteta has slammed Erik ten Hag's dig at its injuries.
FollowEnglish giants Arsenal has yet to manage to conquer any European trophy. At the same time, its wait is set to continue after it was ousted from the pre-quarters of the 2022-23 UEFA Europa League (UEL) on Thursday by Portuguese giants Sporting Lison. After a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium, it was a 3-3 draw in the aggregate, as things moved into the penalty shootout, where a ten-man Lions bested the Gunners 5-3.
After the ouster, Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta brooded on the injury woes. At the same time, he also slammed rival Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag for taking a dig at his club's injuries. "We've been carrying injuries throughout the season. We had Emile [Smith Rowe] out for four months, [Gabriel] Jesus out for four months, Alex [Zinchenko] for two-and-a-half months, Thomas [Partey] for a month and a half, Eddie [Nketiah] for a month and a half. We had many injuries already, but we dealt with that," he said during the post-match presser.
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With Takehiro Tomiyasu and William Saliba suffering injuries during the opening half vs Lisbon, Arteta termed the injuries a "serious" issue for the Gunners. "Huge blow. We wanted to go through and fight in the competition and go for it, and today, we tried for 120 mins and penalties, and it wasn't enough," added the Spaniard.
"Tomiyasu looks pretty serious from his reaction and what he said to me, but it's very early and difficult to know. Willy, I don't know. He had some discomfort and could not carry on, so we had to take him out," Arteta concluded, as Arsenal's focus returns to winning the English Premier League (EPL), where it is ranked at the top.
