Mikel Arteta laments 'HUGE' Arsenal mistake after damaging 2-2 draw at West Ham gives Man City initiative in title race

• Arsenal blow two-goal lead
• Arteta says team lacked purpose
• Draw hands title initiative to Man City

WHAT HAPPENED? Arsenal's title hopes were dented by a 2-2 draw against West Ham on Sunday, which came one week after they were held to the same scoreline by Liverpool at Anfield. The Gunners looked on course to pick up all three points after going 2-0 up but were pegged back by the Hammers. Bukayo Saka also missed a penalty for the Gunners on an afternoon where Arteta felt his side simply did not do enough.

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WHAT THEY SAID: "We started extremely well again. Dominated the game, dominated the pitch and scored two beautiful goals. After that we made a huge mistake to stop playing with the same purpose to score the third and fourth one and just thinking we could play around them and maintain the result and just looked too easy. At that moment we gave them hope," he told reporters. "There is another moment where you could go 3-1 up after 50 minutes and probably the game is over. Two minutes after that you concede the equaliser. This is part of football. My worry is after 2-0 that we made that huge mistake and didn’t understand what the game required in the moment."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Arsenal stay top of the Premier League table but are now just four points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand on their title rivals. The Gunners are also due to travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on the defending champions on Wednesday, April 26.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Arsenal are back in Premier League action on Friday when they host bottom-of-the-table Southampton at the Emirates Stadium.