David Hytner was at the Etihad tonight, and his report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Mikel Arteta, humble but defiant, talks to BT. “We were beaten by the better team, that’s for sure … they were exceptional today … we were nowhere near our level, and when you open that gap you get punished … you have to win your duels, and we didn’t do it, we were punished and could have been even more punished … we conceded from our own throw an open goal … that’s very difficult … they were on top of us … we could not handle that situation … they were extremely direct and had the capacity to do it … today is a difficult night after the way we lost … we have to stand up and look at the bigger picture … the fact we are standing toe to toe with this team is incredible to be fair … we are not going to give up … there are five games to go and anything can happen … I have seen a lot of things, I have been here 20 years … you have to believe … you have to accept we have lost against an exceptional team, and that’s the level.”
