Arsenal's Mikel Arteta: Bournemouth defeat a 'big punch in the face' - ESPN

Mikel Arteta lamented his Arsenal side's «strange» performance in their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, saying the result was a «big punch in the face.»

Arsenal missed the chance to go 12 points clear at the top of the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium, with the door now open for the Manchester City side to cut the gap to six points at Chelsea on Sunday.

«It's extremely disappointing. It's a big punch in the face,» Arteta said on TNT Sports. «It's about how we react now.

»Credit to them for what they did — they haven't lost in 11 games for a reason. But we did a lot of strange things today."

Arsenal have lost three of their four games in all competitions, having previously had three defeats in their previous 49 this season.

Viktor Gyökeres canceled out Junior Kroupi's opener, but Alex Scott scored the winner as Arteta's side pushed forward. Despite several substitutions, Arsenal couldn't break down the visitors after.

Arteta's men were subjected to a rippling of boos at the final whistle.

«We were very far from the level that we're expecting, that's for sure,» Arteta added. «But again, I don't want to criticize any players, especially here.»

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Arsenal face Sporting CP in a Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday — holding onto a one-goal lead — before heading to the Etihad to take on second-place City on April 19.

Asked if City now had the title momentum, Arteta added: «We cannot control that, the only thing we can control is our performance.»

Information from PA and ESPN Global Soccer Research was used in this report.