Mikel Arteta admits his Arsenal side were lucky to escape from the rain-soaked Amex with a point after a dominant display from Brighton

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told talkSPORT his side were lucky to leave the Amex with a point after a dominant display from home side Brighton.

The Seagulls took the game to the visitors after an early wobble, knitting together some attractive possession football whilst creating plenty of opportunities in the Arsenal box.

A combination of poor finishing, good defending and refereeing interventions kept the game scoreless, but Graham Potter’s men undoubtedly walked away the more disappointed team.

Arteta was upfront about his side’s luck on the night, even though they did have chances to take the win.

“I think it’s gained because we don’t deserve anything more than that,” the Gunners boss said. “Being fair, we got that point because we defended really well in the last 15-20 metres of the pitch.

“It’s true that at the end we could have won it because we had two or three big situations to win it, but overall today I think we struggled. 

“Mostly in the first half, to impose our game, to play the way we want, to escape the pressure that they proposed and we weren’t comfortable in the game.”

Arteta felt his players didn’t adapt well enough to Graham Potter’s tactics, and lost possession far too easily.

He explained: “We put ourselves in trouble, we started to play balls that you cannot play against those types of man to man pressing situations and we didn’t interpret it well enough.

“And then we gave so many easy balls away in central areas that caused us problems.”

Despite his disappointment, Arteta remains upbeat about his team’s form, with recent results showing signs of a mini-renaissance after a big summer in the transfer market.

The Gunners had won their previous four matches in all competitions, dominating arch rivals Tottenham at the Emirates to take a 3-1 win last time out.

Arsenal are now unbeaten in four league games after losing their opening three, with a number of Arteta’s summer signings beginning to impress.

Former Seagull Ben White was again vital as he helped keep a fourth clean sheet in five games, while Aaron Ramsdale made a crucial intervention late on when Neal Maupay looked destined to score.

“Overall I think the block of games that we’ve played we should be pleased with the results that we got and the performances that we got in general and move on and improve,” Arteta said.

One player the Spaniard hasn’t signed, but has brought through, is 21-year-old Emile Smith Rowe, who was Arsenal’s biggest threat going forward.

Arteta commented on the English youngster saying: “He’s playing really well, his confidence level is important, he takes the game, he takes responsibility, he wants to make big decisions that can affect the game so I’m very pleased with him.”

Fellow young Gunner, Bukayo Saka, went off injured in stoppage time, but Arteta assured fans it was nothing serious.

“He should be fine. He got a knock, but he should be fine,” he said.