In what was a surprising Premier League outcome, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side were beaten 2-3 at the Emirates by Michael Carrick's Manchester United. The loss for Arsenal now means they only have a 4 point lead at the top, which is quite a small gap and one to worry about considering the fact that Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are trying to hunt them down. Goals from Bryan Mbeumo, Patrick Dorgu, and Matheus Cunha sealed victory for United. It has been the perfect start for Michael Carrick, who now has 2 wins in a row as Manchester United's caretaker manager, having beat Pep Guardiola's Manchester City last week. As for Mikel Arteta, he now has major work to do and must make sure Arsenal doesn't slip further in the title race.
What Mikel Arteta said in his post match interview after the game against Manchester United
The following were Mikel Arteta's words to Sky Sports after the game:
"First of all you have to congratulate Man Utd for the victory. It happened in a really strange way to be fair. We were so dominant in the first half an hour, scored the goal, had another two brilliant chances to score, and then we gave them the goal, which is very unusual from our side. That changed and shifted the momentum a little bit. After that we dropped the standards with the ball, and the game wasn't in our control, and they had two magic moments. Credit to them because in big games you need those moments. We carried the negativity a bit and didn't have the fluidity that we needed. But then we made the changes, scored the goal, and you could feel at 2-2, game on. Everything changed immediately, but then one long ball, one pass, and Cunha scored. A very painful one but it's time to be close to the players who gave us great moments. We all want to win. We have to learn from it. Defeats are part of winning, and we have to take them like this, because they need to be reminded how good they are."
Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard also spoke to Sky Sports after the game. His statement was as follows:
"It was not good enough from us and we need some time to analyse it. We should've done better but now is the time to stick together more, keep working, push each other more and bounce back. First half we were the better team, we scored a goal and had control but a lot of giveaways. We managed to get to 2-2 but then they scored straight away. It's never going to be easy in this league, we know that. I thought we were well prepared for the game, we started the game well and in the second we saw the momentum change a bit. The performance definitely should've been better from us and we have to take the lesson and keep working. Every game is a big challenge, this is part of football. We are still top of the league so we have to keep going and bounce back straight away, that's the only medicine."
Our opinion on Arsenal's loss against Manchester United
Arsenal have been heavily criticized in the past few years that they had bottled the league previously, and they also lack the mental strength required to keep performing at their best in high-pressure situations during the business-end phase of the Premier League season. Losses against teams like Manchester United in their current form are an example of this, and there is no more room for error for Mikel Arteta. He needs to somehow make his players perform at their best in the second half of the league, as Arsenal simply cannot afford to throw away yet another league title after becoming agonizingly close in recent years.
Arsenal have the best squad in the Premier League right now, and their strength in depth is second to none. It is now or never for Arteta to make sure that there are no more slip-ups from them for the remainder of the season. If Mikel Arteta doesn't learn from this harsh lesson against Manchester United, then don't be shocked if Pep Guardiola and Manchester City end up lifting yet another Premier League title.
