Mikel Arteta says Arsenal “can’t cry” or feel sorry for themselves after squandering the opportunity to move to within four points of Liverpool in the Premier League title race.

William Saliba canceled out Raul Jimenez’s opener for Fulham before Bukayo Saka appeared to have given Arsenal a fifth straight victory when he converted Gabriel Martinelli’s cross in the 88th minute.

However, the England international’s last gasp was ruled out following a VAR intervention with Martinelli just offside in the build-up as the match ended 1-1.

Although Arteta’s side have reduced the gap on Liverpool from seven to six points, Arne Slot’s men now have a game in hand after their match against Everton was postponed. Arsenal also failed to take advantage of Manchester City’s 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t win because we deserved to win from start to finish,” Arteta said.

“We did almost everything we needed to do to win it and, if it weren’t for a few millimeters, we could have been sitting here with three points after a very strong and dominant performance against a very good team.

“We can’t cry about it, and that’s also the beauty of this league.

“We cannot feel sorry for ourselves. We have to defend ourselves and now we have to keep improving and see what we can do better so that the opposition has no chance of winning the game. That’s the goal.”

Arsenal had bounced back from the international break with three consecutive league wins and headed into Sunday’s match having recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory over Manchester United at the Emirates.

But Arteta’s players looked lethargic in the first half at Craven Cottage, with Saka registering Arsenal’s only shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.

The Gunners improved after the break, and Saliba’s strike from a corner – Arsenal’s third consecutive goal from a corner and their 23rd since the start of last season – looked to open the way for them to take all three points.

However, Arsenal were guilty of failing to create enough clear-cut chances, prompting Arteta to defend his record of completing two consecutive games without scoring a goal from open play.

“It’s a good thing that we can score from a free kick again,” he added. “It’s never enough if you don’t score three, four or five.

“If we want to improve, we have to be better at every action we do. If they play 11 direct balls, I want to win 11. If they play high pressing six times, I want to play six times. We want to manage the game 100 percent.

After Jimenez’s superb finish just 11 minutes from time, the hosts decided to frustrate their opponents.

Arsenal – forced into another defensive restructuring with Oleksandr Zinchenko joining Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White on the injury table – have taken just two points from Fulham in their last three clashes.

“It was a difficult game, as you would expect,” said Fulham boss Marco Silva. “We knew Arsenal would be a difficult opponent, but we showed great fighting spirit.

“The first goal was good from us, but then Arsenal took control of the game and I really believe that, with the ball, it was not our best game.

“When we win 1-0, the players’ mindset is not to take risks. They pushed us and we didn’t create many chances, but we created a difficult situation for Arsenal.