<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/arsenal/" target="_blank">Arsenal</a> captain Martin Odegaard has conceded that the club's Premier League title challenge is over after Sunday's 3-0 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. Second-half goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav, and Pervis Estupinan at the Emirates earned Brighton an impressive win, but left Arsenal four points behind leaders <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/manchester-city/" target="_blank">Manchester City</a> with two games left. City, therefore need to win just one of their three remaining fixtures to successfully defend the title. “It looks difficult to be honest, we have to be realistic, I don’t think City are going to make many mistakes now," Odegaard said. “The only thing we can do now is get back and finish the season in a good way, I think everyone deserves that, especially the fans. That’s the only thing we can do and we’ll have to see." Until the start of this month, Arsenal had led the standings for all but one round once they reached top spot after the third week of the season. However, a recent run of three draws and <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2023/04/26/manchester-city-smash-arsenal-and-take-control-of-premier-league-title-race/" target="_blank">a defeat to City</a> – combined with City's 11-match winning run – opened the door to Pep Guardiola's side, who are now on the brink of their third successive title. “We’ve done a lot of good things [this season], but at the moment it’s just disappointing the way we ended. Especially the three games before the Chelsea game, and then this game today," said Odegaard, who has had a superb season, scoring 15 league goals. “I think it’s a good sign as well that we are disappointed at the moment, we just have to make sure we keep improving. We’re just going to get better and better all the time and that’s the aim.” Assessing the performance against Brighton, Odegaard admitted Arsenal's level dropped in the second half, which allowed the visitors to capitalise on their chances. “The first half we did OK with the high press, we won the ball a few times there and it could’ve been dangerous,” the Norwegian midfielder said. “We could’ve scored some goals there, but then second half, I think the game changed a bit. “We didn’t do the high press as well as in the first, and when they went direct it was a bit too easy for them to get through and in the end the goals were a bit easy, I don’t know why at the moment – it was frustrating.” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta apologised to the fans for the defeat and urged his players to bounce back and finish the season as strong as possible. “First of all we have to apologise. Last week we were really proud and we stood with our chest out after the performance against Newcastle, and today we have to apologise for what happened in that second half. That is nowhere near the level that we have to show as a team and as a club," he said. “At first, it was extremely competitive and we expected that, there were a lot of interruptions in the game and we were a little thrown. We had some big opportunities after regaining the ball very high up the pitch, and then the second half was a different story. “We started to lose a lot of duels, and obviously the way we conceded the goals is just unacceptable that this level, and after that we had no answers to get back into the game. “We have to live with the emotion that we have right now that we fell short and it wasn’t good enough. We’re going to have to use that to play the next game at a very different pace and quality.”
