Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech feels his side lacked composure in the final third against Middlesbrough in their 0-0 draw, but believes the draw is a fair result as Boro created their own set of chances to score.
Arsenal dominated the opening exchanges with Middlesbrough, but other than Mohamed Elneny's 20-yard shot, the home side didn’t create too many clear cut opportunities in the first few minutes.
However, just after 20 minutes Boro threatened to take the lead in a flurry of action within a few seconds. Adam Traore had his low shot saved by Cech and the Arsenal goalkeeper also saved the follow up from Alvaro Negredo. Just a few seconds late the Gunners goal was again threatened when Gaston Ramirez's cracking free-kick scraped the crossbar.
Victor Valdes made a good save from an Alexis Sanchez free-kick just a few minutes later and Cech was again saving Arsenal’s blushes when he saved a header from Ramirez in the 35th minute to keep the scores level.
While Arsenal dominated possession, Middlesbrough kept on creating the better chances in the first half but they lacked the finishing which could have given them the lead.
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After the break the Gunners came close to opening the scoring when Mesut Ozil’s free kick from the right caused confusion in the Middlesbrough penalty box, and Sanchez’s resultant dinked ball into the box just missed Laurent Koscielny’s head.
Valdes was called into the action a few minutes later when Sanchez’s cracking 25-yard effort was tipped around the post by the Spaniard for a corner.
Traore was again creating all sorts of problems for the Arsenal defence and at the hour mark and he ran past Elneny and Koscielny to drive in a low angled shot which Cech pushed wide.
Sanchez had one more chance a few minutes later when he was sent on goal through a wonderful pass by Theo Walcott, but the Chilean’s weak shot by easily parried by Valdes.
Valdes almost gifted Arsenal a chance when he left his line to deal with a long ball, but his clearance dropped to Walcott’s feet and his weak shot was safely grabbed by the Spaniard in the 74th minute.
Into the last ten minutes Arsenal kept on probing, but it was Boro who looked like scoring when Traore played in Negredo in the final minute of normal time, only to be tackled by Koscielny.
And Ozil thought that he had the game won for Arsenal when he deflected Walcott’s shot past Valdes, but he was ruled offside thus cutting short the Gunners' celebrations.
Middlesbrough held on to their point with a 0-0 scoreline and Arsenal failed to gift a win to Arsene Wenger on his birthday at the Emirates.
Cech admits that despite all the possession, Arsenal lacked a little bit of composure in the final third, which played a part in their failure to find the back of the net.
The Arsenal goalkeeper believes eventually a point a piece was a fair result as Middlesbrough also looked like scoring from the chances they created today at the Emirates Stadium.
The goalkeeper was quoted as saying by the BBC: "We had a lot of possession but we rushed it a bit in the final third.
“We could have kept our cool better, to find a better pass for opportunities to score. That is unlike us. In the end, we did not find the goal which is a shame.
"They had chances too so the draw is a fair result. When they did not take their chances, I thought we would punish them.
"There is a long way to go, there are plenty of games left and we look in good shape."
Arsenal will next take on Reading on Tuesday night in an EFL Cup round of 16 clash.
