Manchester
Mikel Arteta urged his Arsenal flops to ‘look in the mirror’ after a dismal 5-0 thrashing at Manchester City, while Everton extended their strong start with a 2-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Arteta’s side have lost their first three league games and are yet to even score a goal this term. Arsenal sit bottom of the Premier League after their worst start to a season since 1954 as pressure mounts on under-fire boss Arteta.
Arteta’s switch to a back three failed to halt a slick City attack that suggested they are more than capable of defending their Premier League title this season despite missing out on Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ilkay Gundogan opened the floodgates before Ferran Torres pounced on shocking Arsenal defending to double City’s lead inside 12 minutes.
Arsenal’s task was made even harder when Granit Xhaka needlessly lunged at Joao Cancelo and was shown a straight red card.
Gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 before half-time before Rodrigo and Torres with his second of the afternoon rounded off the scoring.
“I’m really disappointed with the things that happened on the pitch and the summary after three games, losing all of them, doesn’t make it any easier,” Arteta said. “It is time to reflect and look in the mirror, each of us.”
Despite Arteta’s woes, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insisted Arsenal should keep faith with his former assistant.
“I love him, we love him,” Guardiola said. “The period we worked together, these two or three seasons was a key point to build what we now have.
I am pretty sure the moment will come when everything will be back and he will do a job because he is an excellent manager.”
At the Amex Stadium, Rafael Benitez’s Everton extended their unbeaten start under the former Liverpool boss.—AFP
