Arteta says Arsenal did all he asked in defeat by Spurs

His side enjoyed almost 70% possession but superb goals by Son, Kane sealed victory for Mourinho's side

LONDON:

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side did everything he had asked of them in a 2-0 defeat by north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur but described their lack of goals as "unsustainable".

His side enjoyed almost 70% possession but superb goals by Son Heung-min and Harry Kane sealed victory for Jose Mourinho's Tottenham side, taking them back to the top of the table.

Arsenal are languishing in 15th place after their worst ever start to a Premier League campaign.

"In terms of the performance they did everything I asked them to do. Absolutely everything," Arteta, whose side have lost five of their last seven league games, told reporters.

"You look at all the stats, they're in our favour but at the end of the day it's about putting the ball in the box.

"The first situation they had from 30 yards they put it in the top corner. You have to applaud it."

Despite having so much of the ball in Tottenham's half, Arsenal rarely got through a disciplined home defence which looked comfortable and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette look a shadow of their former selves.

Aubameyang has only two league goals this season while Lacazette has three, but only one since Sept. 28.

Arsenal have scored only 10 goals in 11 games. To put that into perspective Son and Kane have 18 between them already.

"They tried to generate a situation, we had the chances. We had generated probably more than ever this season put the ball in the box more than ever, had the numbers there," Arteta said.

"We need to score goals. If not, it's unsustainable. It doesn't matter what we do in other departments of the pitch, if we don't score goals we can't do nothing. We need to put the ball in the net, urgently."