On the 90 minutes…
Arsenal suffer only their second league defeat of the Premier League season after suffering a 1-0 loss to Everton in Saturday’s early kick-off at Goodison Park. Despite the setback, Mikel Arteta insists he’s proud of his players but warned the Gunners that they cannot afford to get complacent in the second half of the season.
Ahead of kick-off it looked a difficult game on paper for Mikel Arteta’s side. It was Sean Dyche’s first game in charge and the Everton players certainly had the heart and desire to prove to their new boss that they’re good enough to stay up this season.
The manager bounce was real & Arsenal couldn’t gain control of the game, like they’re used to doing this season.
A second-half header from James Tarkowski sealed a massive result which could have ramifications at both ends of the Premier League table come the end of the season.
What Mikel Arteta had to say after the game…
After the game, Arteta refused to criticise his players but warned Arsenal that they cannot replicate this sort of performance too often as they look to end their long wait for a Premier League title.
“We had loads of the ball but we lacked that purpose and quality in the final third, we generated many chances, but then we conceded and they slowed the game down and we struggled.
They do this to every team, that is their strength with the height, the physicality is their strength, if you want to control the game against them you have to control this. We did not do that today. We needed more composure and to control emotionally the game better. We gave away so many unnecessary free-kicks and that’s what they want.
Today I love them much better than the week before or a month ago. It is easy to be next to someone when they are winning well. I am still so proud of all of these players, they deserve it.
This is not going to be a rose pathway. This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today.”
Despite the defeat, Arsenal still sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, however that lead could be cut to two points if Manchester City beat Tottenham on Sunday, although the Gunners will also have played one game fewer than their closest competitors.
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