Arteta: wins against 'big six' just around the corner after courageous City defeat

Mikel Arteta: wins against 'big six' teams just around the corner after courageous Manchester City defeat

By Will Jennings

Mikel Arteta says he couldn’t be prouder of his players and his team deserved more after watching Arsenal slip to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester City.

Raheem Sterling’s first-half strike proved the difference as the Gunners fell to their second defeat of the Premier League season at the Etihad Stadium.

The visitors battled admirably throughout, however, creating a string of opportunities as City goalkeeper Ederson thwarted Bukayo Saka, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe with a series of fine saves.

Arsenal lost 3-0 against Pep Guardiola’s side in June and Arteta reckons his team are on an upward trajectory after an encouraging performance.

“I think we deserved more from the game. I am extremely happy about the performance we put in, against a top, top team,” Arteta, 38, said.

“To come here and play with the attitude, and to have the courage to play the way we played, to make it as difficult as we made it, I have to say I cannot demand much more from the players.

“The belief that I sense in the team, the energy that they play with and the courage to be as high as we were, as aggressive as we were, the things that we did with the ball – I’ve seen a lot of teams come here in four years, to do what we’ve done tonight is really difficult.

“When you get in these situations, to win these matches you have put the two or three of them [chances] in the net. That was the difference but again, overall I can not be any prouder. If we have to lose football matches, let’s lose them like this.

“It was much better than last time – it was a different game, we had two injuries very early, played 45 minutes with ten men, which obviously against them is a mountain to climb.

“I am upset because we didn’t get anything out of the game, but I think we got better and better throughout. I can take a lot of positives but of course, I hate losing.”

The Gunners lost Rob Holding before the game even kicked off in Manchester as the centre-back pulled up with a hamstring injury in the warm-up.

And that meant that David Luiz was called upon by Arteta, who was sent off during the fixture last season as the visitors slumped to a heavy defeat.

Saturday’s match also marked a debut for new recruit Thomas Partey, after the Gunners activated his £45million release clause from Atletico Madrid.

Arteta praised Luiz for his readiness to step up and reckons Partey can be a key asset as the season progresses.

“The players have to be ready because this can happen during the warm-up or very early during the game,” he added.

“David was totally ready to play and I think he had a really good performance.”

On Partey’s influence, Arteta added: “We are excited and he’s a player that we really wanted to bring here that adds different qualities to what we have.

“He needs a bit of time – it’s a completely different game model to what he’s used to, but he’s bringing great energy and I think he will be really good.”

The Gunners still remain without an away win against a ‘big six’ team since February 2015 and have endured a dismal run of form against their rivals.

The last month under Arteta has shown gradual signs of improvement, however, having competed against Liverpool at Anfield –but losing 3-1 – and now pushing Guardiola’s City close at the Etihad.

The boss rued his team’s inability to take chances but insists an upturn in form is just around the corner.

Asked if his side need to change their record against top six sides, he said: "Absolutely. You want to go to every ground and win.

"To get into the position you have to do so many good things, throughout 96 minutes, and we did a lot of them but in the end, games are decided in the boxes.

“I think we controlled them really well, we created some big opportunities, and when you play in this stadium you have to convert them if you want to get something from the game.

"Against big teams, when you get there, you have to put them away."

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