Premier League Title Chase Over – Arteta Laments After West Ham Defeat
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has admitted that the Premier League title race is now out their hands following a disappointing 1-0 loss to West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners missed the opportunity to close the gap on table-toppers Liverpool ahead of their clash against Manchester City on Sunday.
Jarrod Bowen scored the only goal of the encounter with a thumping header to end West Ham’s four match winless run.
It was the first time Arsenal had trailed in a home Premier league game at half-time this season, but the hosts failed to get going in the encounter, lacking the firepower to trouble West Ham.
Arsenal’s Lewis-Skelly was sent off for dragging Kudus to the floor to stop a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Liverpool will go 11 points clear with a victory against Man City on Sunday with 12 games to go.
Mikel Arteta admitted that the Premier League title race is now out of their control after a damaging defeat.
He said: “It’s not in our hands. I’m really really annoyed of the things that were in our hands.
“It’s very painful. First of all, I congratulate West Ham for the victory. From our side, I’m very disappointed. For big parts of the game, our performance level was nowhere near what we needed to beat them. Obviously, there were a lot of factors during the game that made it even more difficult.
“Even with 10 men, we tried, we put in a lot of energy, but we lacked a lot of precision and a lot of quality. We have to be very disappointed with what happened today and especially how it happened but there’s a long way, there are still 12 games to go. There’s a lot to play for, we’re still in February, and what happened today can happen to any team. All we can control is what we do.”
West Ham recorded just their second victory under Graham Potter, the former Chelsea manager was full of praise for his players for their committed performance.
He said: : “It’s a massive three points for us. It was a really committed performance, I thought the players were amazing and stuck to our task really well. They were tactically disciplined. The players, while not being perfect, were close to it in terms of their efforts, their intentions and their understanding of what we’re trying to do. I’m delighted for them and the supporters because it’s a big win for us.”
Arsenal’s defeat ended their 15-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, while it was also the first time they’ve lost a Saturday 3pm game in the competition since April 2022 against Southampton (W14 D3 before today).
The Gunners will be back in action against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, while West Ham will take on Leicester City on Thursday.
The victory leaves West Ham in the 16th position on the same points with Manchester United in 15th but the Red Devils are ahead because of goal difference.
Premier League Title Chase Over – Arteta Laments After West Ham Defeat is first published on The Whistler Newspaper