Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reveals true feelings on Oleksandr Zinchenko

Mikel Arteta refused to condemn Oleksandr Zinchenko after the Arsenal defender’s mistake saw a testing final few minutes for the club in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Wolves at The Emirates.

The Gunners went two-nil up within 15 minutes thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, but the Ukrainian’s slip saw striker Matheus Cunha find the net in the 86th minute.

The former Manchester City fullback was too tactless in possession and was caught out.

What did Arteta say about Zinchenko?

But Arteta has refused to pile on the criticism for Zinchenko, saying that every player has strengths and weaknesses.

“You have to love him, how he is,” the Spaniard said post-match.. “Every player has strengths and weaknesses. Alex has many more strengths.

“This happened and it can happen to any player. We have to learn from it because there are certain areas where it’s a big no to play, especially after certain things in the previous phase. That’s it. We will get better.”

After the win, Arsenal now sit top of the Premier League table, though Manchester City have a game in hand which they will play on Sunday when they host Tottenham, whose form has dropped considerably over the past few games in the league.

Arteta continued: “I can only praise the players. They were excellent. We played against a really good side and generated so much and conceded almost nothing.

“The scoreline should have been very different. We were very unlucky because we hit the post three times I think. At the end we made an error close to the goal – in the Premier League you get punished big time for that. Then at the end, it’s game on. Overall I’m really happy with how he performed again.”