Theo Walcott accepts blame for Manchester United goal

Theo Walcott has blamed himself for Manchester United's goal against Arsenal which gave them the lead near the 70-minute mark. The 27-year-old lost Juan Mata near the penalty box and the Spaniard slotted home the ball with consummate ease to give United a one-goal advantage in the fixture.

The Gunners equalised with one minute left on the clock as Olivier Giroud scored a towering header after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, coming on in place of Carl Jenkinson, put in a brilliant ball into the box. The North London club struggled to find their passing game and will be happy with the point, which keeps them two points adrift of league leaders Liverpool and six points ahead of United.

"I'm just disappointed because my positioning on the goal was disappointing from my side of it," Walcott told Sky Sports, as quoted by ESPN. "Because defensively I want to (cover that). I've been doing that all season. I knew that was my man to get in there. So on a personal level that's very disappointing for myself. But the guys, they did well and we managed to get that point that we deserved."

The Gunners were looking for their first win in the league at Old Trafford since 2006 but both clubs' relative form over the last few weeks had led pundits to believe that the north London club were favourites going into the fixture. However, it was an extremely insipid performance by the Gunners and had to bank on another late flourish by Giroud to win the game. This is the fourth time that the Gunners have come back late to take points in a game, with the previous ones being against Sunderland, Burnley and Southampton.

"Maybe in years gone by we would have probably lost that game," Walcott added. "We need to turn these draws into wins... But in years gone by this is a very tough place for us to play and we managed to get a result today."