Odegaard: It will be difficult to catch Man City
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, apologised for letting down the supporters, many of whom left before the final whistle
Gunners captain Martin Odegaard admitted Arsenal had “no hope” of catching Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title after their 3-0 capitulation at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Second-half goals from Brighton’s Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupiñán mean that Arsenal have now picked up only nine points from their past seven matches to see their hopes of a first title since 2004 slip away.
City, who beat Everton by the same scoreline before the match at the Emirates kicked off, will secure the first part of a possible Treble if they beat Chelsea at home on Sunday or if Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest a day earlier.
Odegaard, the Arsenal captain, said on Sky Sports: “It is going to be very difficult now. It is tough to take. It is not a good feeling at the moment. The way we played, particularly in the second half, I don’t know what happened. It feels like there is no hope now.”
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, apologised for letting down the supporters, many of whom left before the final whistle. The coach, whose frustration boiled over as he was booked for complaining about refereeing decisions, was critical of his players’ attitude and hinted about summer changes.
“I hate the feeling of letting people down when they are expecting something, that’s the biggest regret I have and I have to apologise for that,” Arteta said. “We fought really hard to be in the position and we were in a critical moment to keep hoping and digging for that dream. My feeling is frustration.”
Arteta refused to blame Arsenal’s flat display on City’s win at Goodison Park and pinpointed his side wasting chances in the first half and failing to come to terms with Brighton’s man-marking.
Gabriel Martinelli left the stadium wearing a protective boot after suffering a heavy challenge from Moisés Caicedo, and Kieran Tierney, the left back, clutched his hamstring at the end.
“I feel that we gave the game away in the second half and when you have to play in these moments you cannot do what we did,” Arteta added. “We have to look. If a team is capable of doing that when it comes to the biggest stage, there’s a lot of things to analyse because it cannot happen. Any team can punish you and that would happen in the Champions League too.”
He said he would need several days to digest the manner of his and the team’s performance, given they had played well in winning 2-0 away to Newcastle United a week earlier. Arsenal were poised to move eight points clear at the top when they blew a 2-0 lead over Liverpool last month — and dropped points against West Ham United and bottom-placed Southampton last month.
“You have to make the analysis of yourself first before looking at anybody else and that’s what I have to do,” he said. “Last week we really did what we needed to win in certain moments and today, completely the opposite. In the second half we started to lose runners, lost a lot of duels, and conceded two really poor goals. We had no answer.”
