Nottinghamshire [UK], May 21 : Following his side's Premier League title loss after months of staying at the top of the points table, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that the "pain is intense" after their title ambitions were shattered after poor performances in the final few games of the league and they will need some days to heal from this loss.
Manchester City have captured their fifth Premier League title in the last six seasons following second-placed Arsenal's loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
"First of all, congratulations to City on winning the Championship. Obviously, it is a really sad day for us after everything we have done in the season, but now we have to face the reality," said Arteta as quoted by Sky Sports.
"Today, we gave a goal away and we were not good enough to break them down. We could have played here for three hours. So, face it, it is my responsibility and I have to take it."
"The pain is very intense. It is a very sad day because we have been working for 11 months with one aim and, being on top for so many days and building that enthusiasm, that belief and that quality that is necessary to compete against Manchester City, we have done it but in the end we did not have enough for many factors."
"Now, heal. Heal for the next few days. It is very painful and extremely sad. I have to find a way to lift the players. We have a difficult week ahead of us and we have a huge responsibility, playing in front of our fans [against Wolves]. They have been incredible all season and they deserve a really good match," concluded the boss.
The Gunners' loss leaves City with an unassailable lead of four points at the top of the points table over Arsenal, who just have one match remaining this season. City is at the top with 27 wins, four losses and four draws in 35 matches. They have a total of 85 points. On the other hand, Arsenal has 25 wins, six losses and six draws in 37 matches. They have a total of 81 points.
This is City's seventh Premier League title.
Forest was brilliant with their defence and restricted Arsenal to just a couple of half-chances. With 37 points and nine wins, 10 draws and 18 losses in 37 games, they are already way ahead of Everton, Leicester, which are battling relegation and Southampton, which has already received a demotion from the league.
Meanwhile, Arsenal's failure was a continued reversal of their fortunes after their 3-0 loss to Brighton last weekend. Their title challenge ran out of steam in the final few games as they delivered yet another dismal performance that allows City to take the title with three games remaining.
Knowing what was at risk after Everton's stalemate with Wolves, the home fans created a frenzied environment prior to kick-off, with the hosts immediately bombarding Arsenal with long throws and passes into the box.
Arsenal fought through the early storm and generated the game's first scoring chances when Gabriel Jesus had an effort blocked by Keylor Navas and then headed over the bar after a corner.
However, Arsenal's had an odd formation, which included Thomas Partey in a hybrid right-back role and Jakub Kiwior as a left-back, the side lacked originality from the start, and they fell behind quickly.
Martin Odegaard's sloppy ball allowed Morgan Gibbs-White to burst forward and feed Taiwo Awoniyi for the first goal. Gabriel Magalhaes slid in and tackled the striker, but the ball deflected off him, beating Aaron Ramsdale and setting off frenzied celebrations. The scoreline read 1-0 in favour of the hosts in the 19th minute.
From there, the hosts were content to sit back and soak up pressure. Their defence was at such a level that despite dominating ball possession stats, Arsenal could only create one other meaningful chance in the first half, with Leandro Trossard firing a yard wide after being picked out from a corner by Bukayo Saka.
Forest's set-piece threat was highlighted immediately after half-time, with defender Felipe firing a low, deflected shot narrowly wide following a Gibbs-White delivery, while the listless visitors continued to flounder.
There were glimmers of attacking intent by Gunners, with Saka forcing a parry from Navas on one occasion and Jorginho firing a couple of speculative efforts wide, but Forest was mainly comfortable and looked threatening as an attacking side despite having just 18 per cent possession.
The majority of their greatest chances came from Gibbs-White, who struck an angled shot into the side-netting and forced a late stop from Ramsdale with another stinging effort.
Arteta brought on Kierney, Eddie Nketiah, and Fabio Vieira in an attempt to elicit a response, but it did not come, confirming the inevitable for Manchester City following their 11-game winning streak as Forest celebrated another year of Premier League football following their promotion last season.
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