Mikel Arteta: Arsenal’s defeat to Bournemouth is a big punch in the face

Mikel Arteta described Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth, which blows the Premier League title door wide open to Manchester City, as a “big punch in the face”.

Arsenal’s sobering loss – their third in a row domestically – inside a nerve-fuelled Emirates Stadium provides City with the chance to reduce the Gunners’ nine-point lead to six when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Five days after beating Sporting Lisbon in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final, Arsenal were desperately off the boil.

Junior Kroupi put Bournemouth ahead after 17 minutes before Viktor Gyokeres clawed Arsenal back into the game from the penalty spot.

However, Alex Scott restored the hosts’ advantage in the second half and Arteta’s shell-shocked side failed to find a response of any sort.

“It’s a big punch in the face, and extremely disappointing,” said Arteta. “That’s what I said to the boys.

“There are no grey areas. Today there were some very basic things that we did extremely badly. When you do that, they’re going to capitalise, and it becomes very chaotic and very difficult to control.

“We have to look at ourselves. We have to suffer. It’s painful. It’s a terrible feeling. But tomorrow is a different day. And if somebody would have said to me in August, we are in this position right now in April, I’m sure we would all have taken it.”

Arsenal have finished runners-up for the past three seasons, and their latest defeat not only hands the championship momentum to City, but again raises serious questions about their title-winning mentality.

The two rivals meet at the Etihad Stadium next Sunday, and should Pep Guardiola’s side triumph in that match, see off Chelsea on Sunday, and also beat Burnley on April 22