Sports
Manchester City vs. Arsenal: We can still do it — Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, believes that his team can still win the Premier League title despite suffering a heavy defeat against Manchester City on Wednesday.
Manchester City produced a dominant performance to defeat Arsenal 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium, cutting the Gunners’ lead at the top of the table to just two points, having played two games less than the league leaders.
Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring for City with a superb finish early on before John Stones added a second on the stroke of half-time, following a VAR review for offside. De Bruyne then scored his second after the interval as City threatened to run riot. Rob Holding pulled one back for Arsenal with five minutes remaining, but City sealed the win with Erling Haaland’s 49th goal of the season.
Speaking after the match, Arteta acknowledged his disappointment but remained optimistic about his team’s chances. “Today is very difficult after the way we lost, but we have to stand up and look at the bigger picture and the fact that we’re competing toe-to-toe with this team – it is incredible,” Arteta told BT Sport.
“We want to compete and we’re not going to give up. There are five games to go and anything can happen. I’ve seen a lot of things happen in more than 20 years and you have to believe that. Tonight it is difficult to do that, but we have to look in the mirror and accept that we have lost against an exceptional team, and that is the level.”
Despite City dominating the match from start to finish, Arteta insisted that Arsenal are still in the title race. “There are five games to go, and anything can happen,” he said. “We want to win the league, and we’re going to fight until the end.”
Arsenal’s loss against City means that they are now without a win in their last four league matches and will need to bounce back against Chelsea on Tuesday if they are to maintain their faltering title challenge.
City, on the other hand, have won their last seven league games and are unbeaten in 17 matches in all competitions. They will look to overtake Arsenal with a victory against Fulham on Sunday.
