Petr Cech admits defensive blunders cost Arsenal against Manchester United

Petr Cech has conceded that Arsenal’s defence gave Manchester United the chance to claim victory at Old Trafford through their own defensive blunders.

Twice in the first half the Arsenal backline presented Marcus Rashford with perfect opportunities to mark a league debut in style. First Gabriel’s clearance did little more than tee up the 18-year-old to slot home before Laurent Koscielny left his opponent unmarked on the six yard line to head in a second three minutes later.

Though Arsenal’s attack, the subject of much debate ahead of the game, cut the margin to 2-1 and subsequently 3-2 after Ander Herrera had added another for the hosts.

It was to prove too great an advantage for Arsenal to overcome and Cech admitted that his defence had not done their part in building a solid platform from which the visitors could steal the points.

“In a game like this, you can make mistakes and we were punished for them,” he said. “Every time we made a mistake at the back, they [profited].

“The third goal was a lucky bounce for them and I thought it was decisive, because if we could have come back to 2-2 in the second half, we would have had a chance to win the game.

“At 3-1 down, you try to get one back as soon as possible, which we managed to do. But we didn’t create enough to score in the last 10 minutes.”

Defeat at Old Trafford leaves Arsenal five points off league leaders Leicester with 12 games of the domestic campaign remaining.

Having battled so hard to haul themselves back into the title race with victory over Leicester a fortnight ago a careless defeat like this is frustrating for Arsenal, but Cech hasn’t given up hope on securing the championship.

“We still have a chance, so we will go for it until the last minute,” he said.

“This was a big disappointment for us and is a step back after last week, where we managed to overcome a deficit against Leicester at home. This is a step back but we need to keep working.”