Mikel Arteta vowed his Arsenal side will not throw in the towel in the title race but admitted they never stood a chance on Wednesday night at the Etihad after being comprehensively outclassed by Manchester City.
City will go top if they beat Fulham on Sunday after demolishing Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to a devastating Erling Haaland-Kevin De Bruyne double act to move within two points of the Premier League leaders.
Arteta admitted Arsenal were “not at the races” and “nowhere near our level” but vowed not to roll over and hand City a fifth title in six seasons.
“This was a very difficult night, obviously after the way we lost,” the Arsenal manager said. “But we are going to compete, we are never going to give up. There are five games to go, anything can happen. You also have to look in the mirror and accept that we were up against an exceptional team.”
Asked if Arsenal would need to win all their remaining matches to stand a chance of denying City, Arteta – whose side face Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday – added: “I think so.”
City were in front after seven minutes when Haaland released De Bruyne to score before John Stones added a second on the cusp of half-time after a lengthy Var review. De Bruyne claimed his second nine minutes into the second half before Haaland scored his 49th goal of the campaign in stoppage time.
“We never had a chance to win the game and we have to improve and be humble enough to accept that,” Arteta said. “The analysis is clear. The better team won the game. They were probably at their best, especially in the first half, and we were nowhere near our level. When that happens the gap becomes too big.
“The first 30 minutes all the basic things you have to do against an exceptional team in terms of competing, winning duels, understanding what the game requires, we didn’t do it and we were punished. We are not at the races.
“The quality of the performance was very far from one team to the other. They were better in every department, more aggressive. They won every single duel, we helped them in corners, after two passes they were in on goal. We conceded set pieces and throw-ins against us too easily.
“I don’t know what is going to be required. We first have to lift the players up because they suffered and it was difficult to swallow. Do everything we have done so well in the next match to earn the right to win it. That’s where we have to start.”
Asked if he was disappointed his players failed to show up for such a big game, Arteta said: “Very and we knew we were going to need our best as a team and individually. When you come here, individual performances dictate and you need 11 players doing that. Today we were far from it.
“I don’t think they were scared but the way we started the game didn’t help us. Control in mini situations, we lost all the races, the first and second balls and when that happens it opens space to attack and that created an uncertainty. We could not grab the game and they won it, and they were really good.”
By contrast, Pep Guardiola hailed his City players and admitted they had taken control of the title race. “It’s not decisive but important,” the City manager said. “We played very good.
“The next three games will be really important but, of course, the most important thing is that the destiny is in our hands. When you arrive at the end of the season and it depends on us, this is the best way.”
Guardiola paid special tribute to stunning performances from De Bruyne and Haaland. “The game belongs to them. I didn’t teach how they find each other in training. Footballers are more natural than you expect,” he said.
“Erling knows when Kevin has the ball. Kevin is a master of the assist with or without Erling. Erling scores goals all the time with or without Kevin. But together, with space behind, they are so dangerous. When we can find Kevin and he can run, he’s unstoppable.”
What the pundits said. . .
Ian Wright, speaking on BT Sport
“Man City would not let Arsenal into the game. We’ve seen Arsenal starting well, breaking presses, but this [City] press was intense. Haaland is physical and aggressive, City were giving Arsenal no opportunity to get anything going. When you look at the way they positioned themselves, De Bruyne will go and wee where he can cut the ball off. It was so well organised that there was no time for someone to get their foot on the ball.
“City were too intense. They kind of rattled Arsenal at the start in the way they came at them.”
Martin Keown, speaking on BT Sport
“Erling Haaland was like Tarzan out on that pitch tonight. [Rob] Holding’s got to be more aggressive. City exploited that weakness at every opportunity.
“I think we have to be careful we don’t go over the top with the criticism because of what Arsenal have achieved this season. They were going first and second place here tonight.
“De Bruyne has got 100-plus assists [this season] in the Premier League and the other fella [Haaland] is a scoring sensation… 49 goals. As a combination these are the best maybe that we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.”
Shay Given, speaking on BBC 5Live
“Arsenal are ahead of schedule and that is hard to talk about tonight because they have been well beaten, but they are back in the Champions League and that is still a successful season. Nobody expected them to be challenging for the Premier League title this season. They are a young team, they will learn from this and get better, but who can stop this Manchester City team. They are phenomenal.
“I felt from an Arsenal point of view, people might say they showed too much respect to City, but maybe they didn’t show enough. It was 2-0 at half time and it could have been four or five. Arsenal maybe could have played in a mid block and hit them on the break, but they were so open and it was chance after chance. Arsenal have been top of the league, pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch, but against City at the Etihad, maybe sit a bit deeper and be more solid. It was too easy for City. Arsenal didn’t change what they did. City went long to Haaland, they went direct and he held the ball up and got others into the game.
“Man City have got the tougher run in, Fulham away isn’t easy, Everton away fighting for their lives, Brighton away and Brentford away are two really tough games to finish. But City playing like this, keep this run of form going, the confidence throughout the squad, leaving Mahrez on the bench after he scored a hat trick at the weekend just shows the strength in depth they have got.”
Robert Huth, speaking on BBC 5Live
“It’s 100 per cent over [the title race]. It’s over. They have just done this to the team that is top of the league. The teams they have got to play are worse off than Arsenal. There is nothing in me that thinks they are going to drop off. I’ve not seen a Pep team drop off. It’s a wrap.”
Dion Dublin, speaking on BBC 5Live
“It was very much the master and his apprentice tonight. It showed in the way City were set up. Arsenal didn’t have any answer to the way they were set up, they made the pitch so big. When they squeezed they bypassed the squeeze. When they didn’t squeeze, City played through them. Arsenal looked a little bit lost, they looked like boys in the first half. They didn’t know what to do. Man City played through them all night and did what they do. Arteta has been outstanding but this was the game they really wanted and the pressure is really on them now, it really is. City played like the champions.”
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