William Saliba believes Arsenal’s latest 2-2 draw with Sporting CP shows the Gunners never give up and can always come back to get a result.
Arsenal had a rollercoaster last-16 first leg in the Europa League against Sporting CP on Thursday night, initially taking the lead before falling behind 2-1.
The Gunners came through a scary period where it looked like Sporting might add a third goal, before scoring an equaliser and looking the more threatening of the two sides to grab a late winner.
It wasn’t to be, but Arsenal will certainly be the happier of the two sides with a draw, with Sporting now having to try and get the better of Mikel Arteta’s side at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal are yet to concede a goal at home in the Europa League this campaign so far.
Speaking about Arsenal’s comeback on Thursday, just a few days after the 2-0 comeback to beat Bournemouth, William Saliba suggested it’s a sign of the team’s mentality.
“As always we never give up and we scored the second goal,” Saliba said. “We have a game back home and we will give everything to win.
“We conceded two goals and the most important thing is that we didn’t lose and we have another game.
“It’s always bad to concede two goals and one from a set piece and one from a counter-attack but it’s ok, we didn’t lose, it’s the most important [thing] and we have the next game at home.
“We know that they can score but we know that we can come back always. We never give up and that’s a good mentality from the team.
“We will do this every time. It’s always better to lead but when we don’t lead we have to come back.”
On a personal note, Saliba scored Arsenal’s opening goal of the fixture, his third goal of the season. Arsenal fans noticed the centre-back has now scored one goal in each of the team’s three kits this year.
It wasn’t Arsenal’s best game from a defensive standpoint, but Saliba can still take plenty of positives from his own performance.
And as he points out, the team are repeatedly showing they can handle those setbacks when they arise.