‘We lost an opportunity’ — Arteta reacts to narrow defeat

By Lawrence Agbo

Mikel Arteta has expressed frustration after Arsenal’s narrow defeat to Manchester City, admitting his side “lost an opportunity” to secure a crucial result.

Reacting after the game, the Arsenal manager said his team executed their plan and showed intent, but failed to capitalise on key moments.

“We are very upset with the result obviously. We came here to win the game, the message was clear,” Arteta said.

He pointed to the fine margins that ultimately decided the contest, stressing the need for ruthlessness against a side of City’s quality.

“That’s exactly that. When you don’t do that, and they have the individual quality, that’s the difference,” he said.

“There’s an element of luck. The ball gets deflected to Haaland. There’s that moment to be so cool, precise, and ruthless. You have to be that.”

Arteta insisted his side took the game to the defending champions and created the opportunities they had planned for, particularly in the latter stages.

“We absolutely did that. Especially the way we ended the game. We could’ve been a bit more composed in certain moments. We took the game to certain areas we wanted. We were very close.

“Now we have to reset. Today was a big opportunity, but we still have five to go and there are a lot of positives to take from the game.”

He maintained that Arsenal generated enough chances to win the match but failed to convert them.

“100% We generated situations we believe we could generate. There’s even one where Kai is onside on the halfway. When you have big chances, you need to put them away to come away with three points.”

Arteta also described the encounter as a high-level contest marked by intensity and decisive moments.

“There were moments of battle and intensity, but it had a lot of similarities with the first minutes of the cup final. You had big chances, but we didn’t come away with it.”

Despite the defeat, he took encouragement from his team’s performance level, adding that they have shown they can compete consistently at the highest level.

“We had some very good moments a few days ago in the Champions League as well. We are the only team playing and playing and playing. The positive thing is we’ve seen the level. We can cope with that and be even better.”