Mikel Arteta described Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday as a “big lesson” for the defending Premier League champions after their perfect start to the season came to an end.
Brighton dominated from the outset at the Amex Stadium, exposing weaknesses in Arsenal’s usually disciplined defence with long-range strikes from Pascal Groß and Charalampos Kostoulas before half-time.
Chema Andrés then rose highest to head home from a corner early in the second half as Arsenal suffered their heaviest defeat by more than two goals in more than three years.
“Extremely disappointed. First of all, I think we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory; I think they deserve it,” Arteta said.
“I think they were the better team. From our side, there were certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from.”
Arsenal had been tipped by many to mount a strong title defence after ending their 22-year wait to be crowned champions of England last season.
Arteta’s side had also made an impressive start to the new campaign, winning all seven of their competitive matches before Saturday’s defeat.
However, the Arsenal manager said the loss provided a timely reminder of the demands of competing at the highest level, with the international break now giving his squad an opportunity to regroup.
“It’s a big lesson for us,” the Spaniard added. “That’s not going to take away what the team has done, and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup.
“With 18 players coming back, what we’ve done and the way we’ve competed and the amount of games we’ve won has been remarkable.
“But this is a big lesson for all of us to understand what it takes to win at this level.”
Arsenal will now look to use the international break to regroup before returning to Premier League action, with Arteta expecting his side to respond to their first setback of the campaign.
AFP
