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The Arsenal manager was disappointed with the way his team lost the top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has blamed defensive errors for their 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday night.
Arsenal lost their grip at the top of the Premier League after suffering defeat in their highly anticipated clash against Pep Guardiola’s men at the Emirates.
Arsenal lose top spot to City
Going into the game, the Gunners were three points ahead of City with a game in hand, but the defeat knocked them off the top spot, with the Citizens taking over on goal difference.
Kevin de Bruyne put the away side ahead before Bukayo Saka restored parity from the spot for the Gunners.
However, second-half goals from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland secured a 3-1 win for the champions.
The defeat did not go down well with Arteta, who felt Arsenal deserved more from their performance on Wednesday night.
Arteta blames defensive errors for Arsenal's defeat
The Gunners made two defensive errors in the build-up to City’s first two goals, with Tomiyasu guilty of setting up De Bruyne for the opener with a poor back pass.
As a result, Arteta was disappointed with his side’s defensive performance, saying they gave City three goals for free.
“You cannot give anything away. We gave them three goals, you don’t do that against City. Ninety-nine times out of 100, you’re going to lose the game,” Arteta said on Arsenal’s website.
Arteta also rued Arsenal’s failure to make their dominance count after outplaying City for most parts of the match.
“And we still had three big, big chances and we didn’t put them away. When that happens, you have zero chance to win.
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But despite the defeat, Arteta was happy with how his side went toe-to-toe against the best side in the league.
The former Everton star urged his players not to dwell on the defeat and bounce back in their next clash against Aston Villa.
“It made me proud the level we have raised today against probably the best team in the world when they are able to play at the level with the players that we have. We have matched that level and believe me, that’s really difficult to do against this team.”
“There’s still a huge marathon to go for every single team,” was his assessment of the title race. “We have a huge battle now on Saturday again to keep going but the team continues to perform and play this way. We need to improve the efficiency in the box, that’s for sure, we want to get more points,” Arteta concluded.
Arsenal could regain top spot temporarily on Saturday if they beat Villa in the lunchtime kickoff.
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