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Attendance: 59,934

Premier League | Gameweek 1

Aug 12, 2018 at 4pm UK

Arsenal
0-2
Man City Manchester City

FT(HT: 0-1)

Sterling (14'), Silva (64')

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech: "We lacked invention"

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 12 August 2018

Petr Cech believes that Arsenal could have taken a point from their Premier League meeting with Manchester City had they been more decisive in the final third.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has put his side's defeat to Manchester City down to a 'lack of invention' in the final third of the field.

The Gunners succumbed to a 2-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium in manager Unai Emery's first match in charge, courtesy of goals from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva either side of half time.

City always looked the more likely to score with the game poised at 1-0, but Cech believes that a point was there for the taking if his teammates took more of a gamble early in the second half.

"We feel that we could have got something from the game," he told BBC Sport. "In the second half, we forced them to make mistakes and we had some opportunities. Unfortunately, we lacked invention to find the killer pass.

"When you play against a team of City's quality and confidence it is always going to be difficult. Inevitably, you can make a few mistakes. It was a shame we couldn't finish off our counter-attacks and overall we're disappointed with the defeat."

Arsenal have just two victories in their last nine opening weekend Premier League games.