Mikel Arteta has challenged armory To show mental strength to win Premier League After losing 3-2 at home Manchester United.
The Gunners ended the weekend just four points behind Manchester City And Aston Villa after replacement Matheus CunhaA brilliant 87th-minute strike gave United their first league win at Arsenal since 2017.
lisandro martinezAn own goal in the 29th minute gave Arsenal the lead in the first half, but a mistake was made Martin Zubimendi gifted Brian Mbeumo A chance to equalize after eight minutes.
patrick dorgueA brilliant 50th-minute volley put United ahead mikel merino Cunha scored the equalizing goal in the 84th minute with a late strike to send Arsenal to their third consecutive league game without a win.
Former Gunners captain Patrick Vieira told Sky Sports after the game That “there are still some questions about the mental strength of the team” as they aim to secure their first league title since 2004 and Arteta responded: “It’s OK. I mean, we accept every opinion, where it comes from and where it’s coming from, and they will have the right reason to say it. In the end, when it comes to match day we have to show our mental strength on the pitch.
“We were absolutely fantastic in Milan [beating Inter 3-1 on Tuesday]And today we weren’t that good. I don’t know if it was mental or not, because of how much they played [in Italy]But because we were bad, especially against a team technically in some aspects of the game, when you make mistakes, they can punish you big. That was the difference.”
Sunday’s defeat was the first since May 2025 despite Arsenal being top of the Premier League and Champions League tables and were booed by some fans throughout.
“It doesn’t matter,” Arteta said when asked about his reaction. “We have more to do, so maybe this is not enough. We have more to do, there is nothing else to do. We have to do our best.”
“When you do that, you can rest in peace. Today we definitely tried to do our best, but we were not efficient enough against a team that was very well organized, and we were also punished because of our mistakes.
“I think this is the first time this season we’ve sat at home and we lost. That’s part of the journey to win. If not, no one will lose a football match. It’s how we react to it, and I’m very confident, because I know those players are preparing them and how much we want to, that we will react immediately.”
Arsenal face Kairat Almaty in their final game of the Champions League league stage on Wednesday. Arteta’s side have already qualified for the Round of 16 and can finish the head-to-head games with a perfect record with a win.
