Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins admits Arsenal have improved a lot, but he still hopes to achieve qualification to the next round of the Europa League.

Olympiakos' Portuguese coach Pedro Martins attends a press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on November 25, 2019, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group B football match against Tottenham Hotspur. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP / Getty Images)
Olympiakos’ Portuguese coach Pedro Martins attends a press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on November 25, 2019, on the eve of the UEFA Champions League Group B football match against Tottenham Hotspur. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP / Getty Images)

Arsenal secured a 1-0 win over Pedro Martins’ Olympiacos on Thursday, though the scoreline didn’t reflect the chances both teams had. The hosts had two huge early opportunities to take the lead, with Bernd Leno the only thing really stopping them.

Similarly, Arsenal had a few fantastic chances of their own. Lacazette missed one in the first half and one in the second, whilst Sokratis hit the bar and Mustafi missed the ensuing rebound.

Olympiacos boss Pedro Martins still feels like his team got a raw deal losing the match though. He believes Arsenal are showing their improvement under Mikel Arteta, but it wasn’t a fair result.

“We believe in ourselves. We have shown that we can do a lot and that is how we will fight,” Martins said. “Arsenal have improved a lot and it will be difficult but we will fight it.

“We had a good game but left with the bitter taste. Very often football is unfair. That’s why the whole world loves it.”

The main positive here is that other teams are starting to take notice of Arsenal’s improvement. It felt like one of the main problems under Unai Emery was that everyone started to see the team as a free win, or even as a bit of a laughing stock.

In his first interviews as head coach, Arteta talked about bringing the fear factor back. It took a while to start racking up the wins, of course. Arsenal certainly can’t be seen as an easy three points right now though, having only lost one game under new management. So that’s progress.