Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal’s loss to Bournemouth is a ‘big punch in the face’
Arsenal suffered a major blow to their title hopes as they lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday
Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations suffered a significant blow after a shock 2-1 defeat by Bournemouth, a result Mikel Arteta described as a "big punch in the face". The unexpected loss, Arsenal’s third consecutive domestically, has dramatically opened the door for Manchester City to close the gap at the top of the table. The Gunners, who had secured a Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory against Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday, appeared lacklustre at a tense Emirates Stadium.
Junior Kroupi put Bournemouth ahead after 17 minutes, before Viktor Gyokeres briefly brought Arsenal level from the penalty spot. However, Alex Scott restored the visitors’ advantage in the second half, leaving Arteta’s side unable to mount a response. "It’s a big punch in the face, and extremely disappointing," Arteta stated.
"That’s what I said to the boys. There are no grey areas. Today there were some very basic things that we did extremely badly.
When you do that, they’re going to capitalise, and it becomes very chaotic and very difficult to control. " Bournemouth's Alex Scott celebrates the winning goal (REUTERS) He added: "We have to look at ourselves. We have to suffer.