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Arsenal centre-back Ben White has praised his side for their performance in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semifinal.
The Gunners held on to their clean sheet on Thursday night (13 January) despite going down to 10 men within the first 25 minutes of the game. Mikel Arteta's side dug deep to stop Liverpool from scoring, ultimately coming away with only their second clean sheet at Anfield in all competitions since 2012.
Speaking to Arsenal Media after the game, White said:
"I think we can take a lot from this. To go to 10 men here is nearly impossible to get a result and we've done that tonight and it gives ourselves a good chance."
The 24-year-old added that Jurgen Klopp's side were difficult to handle but praised his side's adaptability after Granit Xhaka's first-half sending off. He opined:
"It was tough, you've got to concentrate the whole game, you've got runners coming from midfield, the overloads that they've had and the runs that they make it's really tough to track. We've come here with a gameplan and something has happened straight away so we've had to adapt and we did really well."
The result leaves the tie evenly poised heading into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium next week, with the Gunners holding a slight edge.
Arsenal coped well against Liverpool despite being without key players
Arsenal's draw with Liverpool was not an entertaining affair but clearly displayed the Gunners' resilience. Aside from Xhaka's dismissal, they also had to deal with other crucial absences.
Emile Smith Rowe, who has arguably been the club's best player this season, missed the game with a groin issue. Right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu was also unable to feature due to a calf injury. Cedric Soares, who replaced Tomiyasu in the starting XI, had to be substituted just 11 minutes into the game after picking up an injury as well.
Additionally, Arsenal were without Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny, who are representing Ghana and Egypt respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Despite having so many absences, Arteta will be glad to see his side come out with a crucial result. The Carabao Cup is their only chance of winning any silverware this season and they will hope to win the second leg to set up a meeting with Chelsea in the final.
