'We were miserable tonight', says Arsenal's Arteta after Man City defeat

2023-04-27 11:56

'We were miserable tonight', says Arsenal's Arteta after Man City defeat


Arsenal are still at the top of the Premier League, but manager Mikel Arteta 's body language following Wednesday's thrashing 4-1 defeat to Manchester City suggested he knows their title chances are gone.


His side may have been underwhelmed by City 's continued attack, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring twice and John Stones and Erling Haaland also on target .

Defending champions Manchester City will move to the top with a game in hand if they beat Fulham at the weekend, who have more or less trailed Arsenal all season.

" I don't know what it takes, " Arteta told reporters when asked if Arsenal must now win their remaining five games to have a chance of securing the club's first title since 2004 . Stand up first because they suffered tonight.

" We need to do what we've done so far and start winning. "

'We were miserable tonight', says Arsenal's Arteta after Man City defeat

" We're a great team too "

While the loss to Manchester City will be seen as a pivotal moment in the title race, the reality is that Arsenal have lost the momentum they built up during a disastrous April.

With a two-goal lead, Liverpool and West Ham were drawn 2-2 back-to-back, followed by a chaotic 3-3 draw at home to bottom-placed club Southampton on Friday .

It was a run that barely inspired Arsenal's confidence, with the Londoners badly missing the quickness of injured defender William Saliba, who were brought on by City for the cleaners.

" In the first 30 minutes, all the basic things you have to do against top teams we didn't do it and we got punished, " Arteta told reporters. " We played against a great team.

" We are also a good team but we didn't play today. "

Manchester City's De Bruyne was quick to point out that they still have seven league games to negotiate and they are still behind Arsenal in the competition, but even the most optimistic Arsenal supporters will now be runners-up.

Not bad for a club that hasn't finished in the top four since 2016 and wasn't even considered a title contender when the season started .

" The figures at the beginning of the season suggested we would finish sixth or seventh and we are there, " Arteta said.

" After nine months with this team, the players deserve a lot of credit. There are still five games to play. I've been in this country for 22 years and things have changed a lot.

" Today was a very difficult night but we have to stand up and look at the big picture. The head-to-head competition we had with this Manchester City team was unbelievable. "