Arsenal suffered a potential injury blow as record signing Declan Rice was forced off at halftime with a back issue in the 2-2 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
England international Rice, who joined from West Ham United for a fee of around 100 million pounds ($122 million), was ineffective before the break and replaced by Jorginho at halftime.
“He had some discomfort in his back,” manager Mikel Arteta told reporters. “We have to assess him. It’s strange when a player like him asks to come off because he’s uncomfortable.
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“Hopefully, it’s not (long term).”
Arteta was left to rue his side’s failure to hang on to leads given them by Cristian Romero’s own goal and Bukayo Saka’s penalty -- Son Heung-min replying both times for Tottenham.
“We’re disappointed not to win the game, especially when you go ahead twice,” Arteta, whose side remains undefeated but slipped to fifth in the standings, said.
“It’s a shame that we didn’t win it. When we scored again and then conceded straight away, it affected the team emotionally, and we lacked some composure on the ball.”
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Son’s second goal came after Jorginho was caught in possession by James Maddison, who then passed to the South Korean to easily beat David Raya.
It was a horrible moment for the Italian former Chelsea midfielder, but Arteta sprang to the defence of his player.
“I love him, and we love him, errors are part of football. We are all with him,” Arteta said.
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