Mikel Arteta could only watch on in despair as his Arsenal side fell to a 2-0 defeat at home to ex boss Unai Emery’s Champions League chasing Aston Villa team.
In a game that many felt would be a routine victory for the Gunners in their Premier League title chase, Villa had been given a very different memo.
Speaking after the game, Arteta gave his reasons for the defeat in his post match press conference. Here’s everything he had to say about the Emirates loss.
The title is back in City’s hands. How confident are you that it could still change?
Yeah that’s a possibility. That’s the reality now. It’s been the same for a few months. We knew this moment could come and now it’s about reacting and keeping believing and doing what we can do.
How important is it to make sure the season doesn’t fizzle out now?
If one result is going to do that then we are not strong enough. That’s very simple. We had one of the best performances that we’ve had all season in the first half against a really good team. It should have been three or four or more. It didn’t happen. In the second half the momentum shifted. We could not control and generate what we did in the first half. We conceded two very poor goals and we lost the game. Congratulate the opponent and stand up. Now the moment is to stand up and be counted. When you win and win and win for four months it’s very simple to do it. The moment to do it is now.
Are you confident you have the leaders in the squad to turn it around?
We don’t have any other solution. If you want to win championships, if you want to be there in the Champions League, when you have these moments you have to stand up. If not that means that you don’t have a quality that is very necessary. Now it’s a big test for us.
