Mikel Arteta claims Arsenal ‘are not at the level’ of Man City after ‘painful’ defeat to Nottingham Forest ends faint Premier League title hopes

Mikel Arteta admitted that Arsenal simply aren’t at the level of Manchester City and that they won’t be able to change that in three months' time.

Arsenal fell to third loss in five games at Forest
1-0 defeat handed Man City third straight PL title
Arteta highlighted gulf in class between sides

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners were beaten 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, a defeat that saw City crowned champions for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

It was a third loss in five games for Arteta’s side, who have stumbled over the finish line amid the relentless pressure that has been put on them by City over the past couple of months.

WHAT THEY SAID: Asked after the match what he can now do to close the gap on the champions, Arteta said: “This is my job, this is our job and this is what this club deserves. I know we’re not at that level, but we have to find a way. This is not enough. It’s not going to change in three months time. We need to be at that level but we need to find other ways to do it. For example today we needed to play much better. This is my responsibility."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Arteta added: “First of all congratulations to Man City, they are the champions, they deserve to be the champions. They’ve done it for 38 games, we haven’t been able to do that and that’s it. From my side I apologise because we generated that belief we could do it and at the end the team wasn’t able to do it and it’s my responsibility.

"Today is painful. We’re here to win, I want to win, I love winning, I love what everyone does at this club to win. When you don’t get there it’s painful. This is how I feel today. I value a lot what the players have done yes, but when you are there, the next step is you have to win. We fell short."