Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta defended the performance of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for their 0-0 draw with Leeds United.

He struggled again and was unable to stamp his mark on the game, but Arteta said his frontline showed glimpses of quality in the first half. He conceded, however, that his side found it tough going against Marcelo Bielsa's high-pressing side.

He said, "In some moments it worked really well. We had a patch in the first half, a patch of 25 minutes when we were really good, efficient, we pressed high, we created some really good opportunities, and made it really hard for them.

"Then there was a spell in the 15 or 20 minutes of the first half where we started to give the ball away, we did not control certain spaces against them and they suffocated us, which they were always going to do. They did it against every team in the Premier League.

"It's impossible to dominate this team for 90 minutes. And then in the second half when you hope that you are going to get things adjusted and better, we go to 10 men and then obviously it's a mountain to climb."