Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted that the best team won on Wednesday evening as his side fell to a 4-1 defeat to Premier League title rivals Manchester City.
Goals from Kevin De Bruyne and John Stone raced the Citizens into a two-goal lead in the first-half before De Bruyne added a third shortly after the break. Erling Haaland netted his 49th goal of the season in all competitions in injury-time after Rob Holding scored a consolation.
The Gunners' lead at the top of the table is now only two points, with City having two games in hand. It's also the fourth consecutive game that Arteta's side have failed to win, with their last victory dating back to the start of the month against Leeds.
READ MORE: Mikel Arteta given brutal Arsenal reality check after Man City defeat
Speaking to the media after the game, the Spaniard admitted that his side lost to the better team in Manchester.. "The better team won the game," he said. "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."
The defeat leaves Arsenal as many peoples second favourites to win the title next month, with Opta insisting that City have a 92% of retaining their title. However, Arteta declined to get invested in the statistics and heaped praise on his squad for their season so far. "The stats at the start of the season said we’d finish sixth or seventh and we are where we are with five games to go," he said.
"Those players deserve a lot of credit to go nine and a half months against this team doing what they have done. There’s still five games to go. Five. I’ve been in this country almost 22 years and I’ve seen a lot of things and I know how much it shifts from game to game.
"There are not easy games in this league. Let’s see. We have to lift our players tonight. We played against an exceptional team, we know that, but we are an exceptional team as well. Today we didn’t do the basics and understand what we needed to win the game."
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