'Really upset' Mikel Arteta says Arsenal players 'deserve a slap' after Brighton defeat

Mikel Arteta admitted he was ‘really upset’ after Arsenal’s defeat to Brighton and said his team ‘deserved a slap’ as they suffered another blow in the top-four race.

The Gunners are threatening to blow their Champions League qualification after suffering successive defeats to Brighton and Crystal Palace.

Graham Potter’s Brighton had gone seven games without a victory before their trip to the Emirates but outplayed Arsenal to win 2-1.

Leandro Trossard curled home a fine finish to put Brighton in front midway through the first half and Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli was denied an equaliser on the stroke of half-time following a four-minute VAR check.

But Arsenal failed to build on their momentum and went two goals behind when the impressive Enock Mwepu rifled a shot past Aaron Ramsdale.

Martin Odegaard scored late on but it proved nothing more than a consolation as Arsenal slipped three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, who smashed Aston Villa in the evening kick-off.

‘It has been a tough week; especially today because we wanted a reaction [to the defeat at Crystal Palace].’ Arteta said.

‘It came in the second half, which is too late; we have to have the courage and personality to play much better and raise the level in the first half.

‘We made it really difficult for ourselves. We were sloppy, we had no purpose to attack, we were really imprecise and we didn’t want to play forward.

‘We’ve shown for many weeks how well we can play; it has been a difficult week and we’ve lost some big players, but if you get what you want, not everything is going to be with a blue sky.

‘This is our team in the good moments and especially the defeats. There are many games to play but we have to be concerned about that performance,