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Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal «won’t give up» in the title race after Manchester City’s «shock» dominance at the Etihad on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola’s side were in complete control throughout, with Kevin De Bruyne netting a brace either side of a John Stones header, before Erling Haaland added his 49th of the season with last kick of the match in the 4-1 win.
Rob Holding’s goal was one of the few noteworthy offensive moments for Arteta’s team, torn apart in defense above all by Haaland and De Bruyne, who showed their counterparts who’s boss.
Arteta said after the match that the match had been a «shock» but admitted City were clearly superior.
He said: “You have to accept that the better team won the game. The way we started, we didn’t do the basics right, we didn’t race right.
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“We have to look in the mirror and be honest. When that team plays at that level it’s extremely difficult to stay up.
“We weren’t at our level. It’s a concern. When you’re fighting for a championship [to do that].
“It’s not about fighting. It’s all about competitiveness in this type of game. We never generated any momentum in the game.
“We’ve been doing it for nine and a half months [challenging]. We won’t throw it away because we lost a game. We have to lift all our players. It was a shock.
“Today is a very difficult night after the way we lost. But we have to stand up and look at the bigger picture and the fact that we are competing face-to-face with this team is incredible.
“We want to compete and we will not give up. There are five games left in this league and anything can happen.
“I’ve seen so much and I’ve been here over 20 years and you have to believe that while tonight is tough, we have to look in the mirror and accept that we lost to an outstanding team and that is Esso.»
