Mikel Arteta Asks Arsenal Players To Rise After Losing To Aston Villa 0-2

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists to his players to "raise and provide evidence" (photo: x @arsenal)

JAKARTA - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists to his players to "raise and provide evidence" after their hopes of winning the Premier League title stalled with defeat to Aston Villa, April 0-2.

The final two goals gave Aston Villa coach Unai Emery and his players a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium to increase their hopes of finishing in the top four.

In another twist in the title race, Arsenal lost far as Leon Bailey andtenda Watkins scored in three minutes to surprise home fans.

Meanwhile Liverpool also lost at home 0-1 to Crystal Palace earlier that day, and the fifth league defeat of the season to Arsenal put them in second place - two points behind defending champions Manchester City.

Asked if he was worried that Arsenal's season would fade - as happened last season - from this point, Arteta's answer was strong.

"If one outcome will do it, then we are not strong enough," said the Spaniard, whose team was previously unbeaten in the league in 2024.

"It's very simple. We have had one of the best performances we've ever had this season in the first half against a really good team. There should have been three or four goals or more. But that didn't happen. In the second half the momentum changed," he said.

"We couldn't control and produce what we did in the first half. We conceded two very bad goals and we lost this game," he added.

"Congratulate the opponent and rise. Now is the time to get up and give evidence. When you win and continue to win for four months it's very easy to do. It's time to do it now," he said.

Villa appeared brilliant in the second half they had the lead and their lead finally paid off when Bailey's substitute netted the ball behind the net before Watkins took advantage of Arsenal's high defense to shoot into the net and finish brilliantly.

Villa also pressed the net with a shot that hit the post from Watkins and Youri Tielemans, and Arsenal now have to recover ahead of their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, April 17 with the current aggregate drawing 2-2.

"If you want to win a championship, if you want to be in the Champions League, when you're having moments like this, you have to get up," added Arteta. "If not, that means you don't have the qualities you really need. Now it's a big test for us.

"In any league in the world if you win a number of games in a row like we did, you will be six or eight points ahead. But it's not like that here. That's the challenge," said Arteta.

This is the first visit of former Arsenal boss Unay Emery to the Emirates Stadium with his Villa team. They now lead three points over Tottenham to strengthen their position in the hunt for the Champions League.

"Of course, defeating Arsenal here is very difficult and we need to play and focus 100 percent and really ask for everything," Emery said.

"We need our biggest commitment to do better than we did against Manchester City (4-1 defeat) is an example we use for this match. This is the level I want to achieve with our players and progressively, we are getting better," Emery said.