Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen blamed a lack of imagination for the club’s Champions League defeat at the hands of Schalke.

The Gunners slipped to a 2-0 loss at home to the Bundesliga side, despite edging the possession stats.

The defeat was the club’s first at home in the competition since 2009 and their Belgian centre-back blamed a lack of creativity in the final third:

"We are really disappointed," Vermaelen told SkySports after the game.

"We lost on Saturday and wanted to be better today but it was the same story. We didn't create enough chances to score goals.

“They got one and then got more."

The 26-year-old was unable to explain why the team failed to learn their lessons from the weekend’s Premier League defeat at the hands of Norwich:

"We gave 100% but it's difficult at the moment because we're not creating enough chances to score goals."

"Teams come here with strong organisation, technical ability and sometimes it is difficult to get through,"

Late goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay, whom Arsenal were interested in signing during the summer, were enough to hand the travellers all three points.

With six points after three games in the competition, the North Londoners are still in expected to qualify for the knock-out stages, but the defeat will come as a blow for Arsene Wenger.