Despite the heavy defeat, Arteta remained optimistic about Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League this season.
He acknowledged City’s impressive performance but emphasized that there are still many games left to play and anything can happen in football.
He expressed confidence in his team’s ability to bounce back and said that they will keep fighting until the end of the season.
“Today is very difficult after the way we lost, but we have to stand up and look at the bigger picture and the fact that we’re competing toe-to-toe with this team – it is incredible,” Arteta told BT Sport.
“We were beaten by the better team. We were nowhere near our level.”
“We’re not going to give up. There are five games to go in this league, anything can happen.”
Mikel Arteta with an honest assessment as his Arsenal side were humbled by Man City…
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— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 26, 2023
“We want to compete and we’re not going to give up.
“There are five games to go and anything can happen. I’ve seen a lot of things happen in more than 20 years and you have to believe that.
“Tonight it is difficult to do that but we have to look in the mirror and accept that we have lost against an exceptional team, and that is the level.”
City dominated the match from start to finish and could have won by an even bigger margin – with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale forced into making several top saves.
Arsenal are now without a win in their last four league matches and will need to bounce back against Chelsea on Tuesday if they are to maintain their faltering title challenge.
City, meanwhile, have won their last seven league games and are unbeaten in 17 matches in all competitions.
They return to action against Fulham on Sunday and can overtake Arsenal with a victory at Craven Cottage.