Arsenal didn’t play up to their standards and I take full responsibility for that, admits Mikel Arteta

With Arsenal walking into the Aston Villa game on the back of three consecutive wins in all competitions, few expected the Villians to walk away with a win. But that is exactly what happened with the visitors putting the ball into the twice in the opening half an hour. While the first goal was disallowed because of VAR, the second one stood and to make matters worse Thomas Partey was subbed off with an injury at half time.

Things became even worse in the second half as Ollie Watkins completed a quick-fire double to ensure that his side walked away with all three points. It meant that Arsenal ended the game without a goal to mark Mikel Arteta’s worst ever defeat as a manager. However, the Spaniard took full responsibility for the loss and admitted that this was the first time he saw them not play as a team. The Arsenal boss further added that the loss is a frustrating one especially with the club building momentum over the last few weeks.

"First of all congratulations to Aston Villa for the way they played and the victory. After that, we performed below our standards and I have to say it's the first time I've seen us play and we weren't a team. I take full responsibility. We didn't start well enough, we got away with VAR for an offside situation but we lost all the races, the duels and we were sloppy on the ball. When we created chances we didn't hit the target. It's a really bad combination," Arteta told Sky Sports.

"We left spaces and on the counter we looked really vulnerable. I take full responsibility. I am responsible to make the team perform on the pitch and today we were not a team and it is my job. It is why I am standing here. It is a frustration. It takes a lot to build momentum, to build a way of being, living and performing and when something like that comes up it's a hard one to take but in a hard moment you learn more than in a positive moment and I want to see how we react."