Roy Keane brands Arsenal's slip-up 'self-inflicted' and delivers verdict on Bukayo Saka's costly penalty miss

Manchester United icon Roy Keane believes Arsenal only have themselves to blame for their 2-2 draw with West Ham United on Sunday, April 16. However, the Irish pundit was forgiving of Bukayo Saka for his missed penalty in the encounter.

The Gunners locked horns with the Hammers at the London Stadium on Sunday. Mikel Arteta's side started strong as Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard scored once each within ten minutes, putting them 2-0 up.

Arsenal then conceded a penalty in the 33rd minute as Gabriel Magalhaes made a foul on Lucas Paqueta. West Ham's Said Benrahma stepped up to the spot and managed to find the back of the net. Jarrod Bowen got his name on the scoresheet in the second half.

Speaking after the match, Keane said on Sky Sports (as quoted by Football365):

“Last week, we forgave them because they were at Liverpool and it’s a big ask. Today was self-inflicted, particularly with the first penalty they gave away [for West Ham’s first goal].”

Saka had the opportunity to score Arsenal's third goal of the match after a handball by Michail Antonio in the penalty box. However, the England international's shot was not on target and went wide.

Keane addressed the in-form winger's missed penalty and added:

“We’ve seen great players miss penalties. It’s pressure, as simple as that. He’s a brilliant player and he’ll respond to that as he always does. It’s a big point for West Ham and they deserved it in the second half.”

Saka has racked up 12 goals and 10 assists in 31 Premier League appearances for Arsenal this season.

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"We gave them hope" - Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal 'made a huge mistake' in draw against West Ham

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that his side made the mistake of taking their foot off the pedal in their draw against West Ham. The Spanish boss reflected on the Gunners' performance and told reporters after the match (as quoted by GOAL):

"We started extremely well again. Dominated the game, dominated the pitch and scored two beautiful goals. After that we made a huge mistake to stop playing with the same purpose to score the third and fourth one and just thinking we could play around them and maintain the result and just looked too easy. At that moment we gave them hope."

Arteta added:

"There is another moment where you could go 3-1 up after 50 minutes and probably the game is over. Two minutes after that you concede the equaliser. This is part of football. My worry is after 2-0 that we made that huge mistake and didn’t understand what the game required in the moment."

Arsenal's draw against the Hammers could prove to be a pivotal moment in this season's heated title race against Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side are trailing behind in second place, four points short of the league leaders with a game in hand.

The two sides are set to face off at the Etihad on April 26 in what could be a potential title-decider.