Arteta slams Arsenal for making Zurich win 'difficult' in finals

Mikel Arteta lamented that Arsenal made the knockout stages "difficult" in the 1-0 win over Zurich that sealed top spot in Europa League Group A on Thursday.

The Gunners recorded their ninth home win in as many games in all competitions this season, their longest streak at the start of the campaign since 2009-10 (11), after Kieran Tierney's first-half winner.

Arsenal also kept a clean sheet in all three of their home group matches in Europe for the first time since the 2008-09 Champions League, thanks to a resolute defensive performance at Emirates Stadium.

Arteta suggested his side were at fault in the latter parts of the game, lamenting the hosts for putting pressure on themselves as Adria Guerrero saw a second-half equalizer disallowed.

“We always try to start faster. We have an opponent who has something to say in the game,” the Arsenal manager said. “We made the game difficult in the last 15, 20 minutes. "

Arsenal will get the most out of their Europa League group for the fifth time in as many attempts, with no team topping a group more often since the competition rebranded in 2009-10.

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But a second-half injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu marred the win somewhat, leaving the full-back a potential World Cup doubt with Japan, who kick off their campaign against Germany in 20 days.< /p>

"He felt something," Arteta said of the Japan international's injury, although he declined to give a timeline for his return, adding: "We don't know yet.

"We have Chelsea this weekend, that's my target."

Tierney's lavish first-half strike was his third in the Europa League (two for Arsenal, one for Celtic), with only Kris Commons (six) scoring more among Scottish players in the competition since 2009-10 .

The left-back has had to play a back-up role to Tomiyasu for much of the season but has insisted his performance levels will not drop whether in the starting XI or not .

"We wanted to finish the game in 60-70 minutes and score some goals, but we never did," he told BT Sport.

“I thought we saw the game over. They put a lot of pressure on us but we got through it. We had to fight and be hungry because they came here with so many this.

"We knew they would. Their last few results were good so they gained confidence. We did pretty well, it's just a shame we couldn't score a few more.

"We won 5-0 a few days ago so it's not like that [fighting for a second goal] that happens all the time. Teams win 1-0. As long as we get a clean sheet , we are confident that we will score.

"I want to play every game possible. I have to keep working hard. The manager knows that I will give 100% whether I start or not."