After Arsenal’s 3-0 loss against Brighton & Hove Albion, Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta expressed that he was still trying to digest his team’s second-half performance which led to a big defeat. After beating Newcastle United in St. James Park, Arsenal were flying high as they hosted the Seagulls in another crucial fixture.
In the first half, both teams went neck-and-neck but the Gunners were dealt a massive blow as rising star Gabriel Martinelli got injured and was replaced by Leandro Trossad. With both teams at 0-0, Brighton drew first blood thanks to Julio Ensico’s 51st-minute goal off a Pervis Estupiñán assist.
Arsenal tried fighting back but seemingly fell short until Deniz Undav, who replaced Ensico in the 82nd minute, doubled the Seagull's lead as he managed to chip the ball over Aaron Ramsdale. Then the final nail in the Gunners’ coffin was hit by star left-back Estupiñán to make the score 3-0.
Later in the post-match presser, Mikel Arteta was questioned if Arsenal’s title race is over, reacting to which he said, “What I have to accept first is what happened in that second half, digest it, individually I look at what we have to do very differently for the next match and after that, until mathematically it’s over, the second position is secured, that’s not going to change. But we have to digest and that’s going to take a few days.”
Further talking about the game, Arteta spoke about how there has been a 180 shift in the team’s morale especially after the Newcastle win and issued an apology to the fans for their performance. He said, “A really different feeling to the one we all had after last Sunday, when we felt proud and that we did what it takes to win in certain moments. Today is completely the opposite, today we have to apologise to our people, especially for the performance that we had in the second half.”
