Mikel Arteta said that his squad just needed to improve its situational defense rather than hold David Raya accountable for the goalkeeping gaffes that caused Arsenal to overcome a goal deficit to defeat Luton Town 4-3 at Kenilworth Road.
After joining Luton on loan from Brentford in the summer, the 28-year-old committed two errors in eight minutes, which allowed Luton to overtake the Premier League leaders.
In the 49th minute, Elijah Adebayo beat Raya to a corner, and the home team took the lead when Ross Barkley’s shot slid under Raya’s body.
But rather than placing the blame on the Spaniard, Arteta—who received a booking for his celebration of Declan Rice’s injury-time victory and will now serve a touchline ban—told reporters following the game that Arsenal needed to improve their defense as a whole.
“We have to defend better the situations as a team. There are certain things leading to the goals and it’s not about blaming, we have never done it, and we’re not going to do it now,” Arteta said when asked about Raya’s display.
“It’s about how the team reacts to that, because it’s going to happen, and I love that response.”
“We don’t want a draw, we want to win! That drive, that energy, that risk and emotion that we put in the pitch, you can sense it,” Arteta continued. “Today we conceded some goals that we are going to be disappointed with but that’s part of it as well. It’s going to happen and how we react to that, and it was great.”