Arteta piles the pressure on Man City with Arsenal title war cry

Despite Arsenal taking a heavy beating from their title rivals, Arteta refuses to throw in the towel.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes his side can still beat Manchester City to the Premier League title, insisting ‘anything can happen’.

Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat to City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the standings to two points, and with Pep Guardiola’s side boasting two games in hand, the Gunners are very much on the backfoot now.

“It is a very difficult night after the way we lost, but we have to stand up, look at the bigger picture and the fact we are competing toe-to-toe with this team and that is incredible to be fair,” Arteta said.

“We want to compete, we are not going to give up. It is five games, and in this league, anything can happen.

“We were beaten by the better team, that is for sure. They were exceptional and when that is the case it is extremely difficult. You have to start, first of all, by competing. We were punished and we could have been even more punished.”

‘There are not two equal games in this league’

“Those players deserve a lot of credit to be 9½ months against this team being where we are. And there are still five games to play,” Arteta continued.

“I’ve been almost 22 years in this country and I’ve seen a lot of things and I know how much it shifts from game to game. There are not two equal games in this league. First of all, we have to lift our players who suffered tonight and played against an exceptional team. We are an exceptional team as well but today we were not at the races.”

Asked if Arsenal must win their final five games to stand any chance, Arteta replied: “I think so. I don’t know what is going to be required.

“We first have to lift the players up tonight because they suffer and it was a difficult one to swallow and lift them up.”

Arsenal return to action next Tuesday to play Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.