Mikel Arteta admitted that he took a risk by making nine changes for Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup fifth round, but insisted that he had no choice because some of his stars were still shell-shocked after their UEFA Europa League exit.
Arteta’s side on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos in stoppage-time and Eddie Nketiah six minutes after the break at Portsmouth’s Fratton Park.
It was a much-needed boost for Arsenal, who on Thursday last week crashed out of the Europa League in a painful last-gasp defeat against Olympiakos.
Photo: AP
Arteta said that fielding such an inexperienced lineup — only David Luiz and Bukayo Saka retained their places — could have put Arsenal’s only chance of silverware this season in jeopardy.
“They fully deserve the chance and I know it is risky to play them in this competition, but they are worth a risk,” Arteta said of his young side.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was in tears after missing a costly late chance against Olympiakos, and Mesut Ozil were both absent, while Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe were on the bench.
“I assessed the team and, physically, some of them were knackered, some of them had issues, some of them mentally were hanging on what happened that day, so I tried to pick the right team, knowing how they were, and I made the most of it. If you win, it is okay, but if we had lost obviously it would have been the wrong decision,” Arteta said.
“The energy, the focus and the willingness and desire to play in this competition is really important,” he added.
A sour note for Arsenal came when Lucas Torreira was carried off the pitch on a stretcher just 15 minutes into the game and left the park on crutches.
“He was in a lot of pain. He is in a brace at the moment,” Arteta said. “He will be assessed in the next few days and we will know more. I don’t know if it’s the bone or ligaments — we don’t know yet.”
Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett said that Arsenal were worthy of their place in the next round after surviving an early barrage from the third-tier promotion chasers.
“I felt that we put quite a lot of pressure on them in the first half,” Jackett said. “We needed one of those moments to go for us, but fair play to them, they got the blocks and we couldn’t make those moments tell.”
“I’m disappointed with the first goal and the timing of it,” he added. “We really needed to go in at halftime 0-0 and build it up for the second half.”
“Fair play to my players, they never gave up and didn’t buckle — Arsenal have deserved to win the game, but we are proud of what we have done in the competition and are still doing well in the league,” Jackett said.
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