Mikel Arteta insists the title-race is not over yet, despite Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night. The result leaves the Gunners two points ahead of City at the top of the table, having played two games more, and with City in sensational form, the title-race is there’s to lose now.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta was clearly infuriated with his side’s awful performance, saying he was ‘very disappointed’. He said: ‘We knew that we were going to need our best as a team and individually, when you come here you need to be at your best. Today we were far from that. The better team won the game. They were probably at their best in the first half and we weren’t at our level. In terms of the basics we didn’t do it. I don’t think they [his players] were scared, but the way we started the game, we put ourselves in trouble in many situations. When that happens we could not grab the game the way we wanted.’
Despite the defeat, Arteta still believes his side can go all the way and win their first Premier League title since 2004. He said: ‘The stats at the start of the season said we’d finish sixth or seventh and we are where we are. There’s still five games to go. I’ve been in this country 22 years and things change a lot. They’re an exceptional team but we are an exceptional team as well. I don’t know what is going to be required [to win the league]. For sure we have to lift the players up first because they suffered tonight. We need to do everything that we’ve done so far so well and start winning.’
In order to stand any chance of winning the title, Arsenal must win their next game against London rivals Chelsea on Tuesday, while City travel to Fulham on Sunday.