Arsenal Failed To The Top Of The Premier League, Mikel Arteta Disappointed

Arsenal player Bukayo Saka scored against Fulham. But Saka failed to bring Arsenal to victory. (X/@Arsenal)

JAKARTA - Arsenal again failed to take advantage of the chance of returning to the top of the English Premier League standings. The 2-0 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage Stadium, Sunday, December 31 evening WIB, disappointed manager Mikel Arteta.

It's not wrong if Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has ignored Arsenal in the race for the title. Although Arsenal can still compete, Guardiola actually takes into account Liverpool, who are currently at the top of the standings.

Evidently, Arsenal were unable to take advantage of two chances of taking the top spot in the standings after suffering two defeats in the London Derby.

After losing 2-0 against West Ham United, in the next match Arsenal will have to admit Fulham's lead 2-1.

The defeat made Arsenal left by Aston Villa who successfully beat Burnley 3-2 and Man City who beat Nottingham Forest 2-1.

Arsenal showed a decline just before the turn of the year. In the previous five matches, Arsenal had a six-point lead over Man City. But now, both teams have pocketed 40 points.

Even the Cityzens, who are ranked third, are already above Arsenal, who are one strip below.

Not only, Man City still has one remaining match left. This makes defending champions of the Premier League still able to stay away from the Gunners.

Arteta also felt disappointed with the bad results in two Arsenal matches. "The younger brother, this is a painful and sad day," said Arteta.

"We had a chance to the top after showing consistency for 20 matches. But then we couldn't win," he said.

According to Arteta, the defeat against Fulham is different from the previous match. Against West Ham, he stated that Arsenal should not lose.

"Three days earlier, we lost in a match that should have been held. This time, the situation is different," said Arteta again.

In the match against West Ham, the Gunners took control of the game and fired 30 shots into the net. But nothing was on target or scored. On the other hand, Arsenal had difficulties against Fulham.

In that match, Arsenal took the lead through Bukayo Saka. But The Cottagers were able to turn things around through Raul Jimenez and Bobby Decordova-Reid.

"We weren't good enough in the possession ball. We threw away too many balls. It wasn't enough to threaten their goal," said Arteta.

"Our defense is the second best. But we can't control the game. When we concede two goals like in the match against West Ham, it will be difficult for you to win," he said.

Arsenal closed the year with two defeats making them suffer serious threats from the teams below.

Tottenham Hotspur, who beat Bournemouth 3-1, has peeked at the opportunity to overtake this neighbor.