Mikel Arteta apologises as Arsenal lose out to Man City in title race

A 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest handed Manchester City a fifth Premier League title in six seasons

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looks on as his side lose 1-0 to Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. EPA

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta congratulated Manchester City on winning the Premier League while reflecting on a “really sad day” after a 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest cost the Gunners a first title in nearly 20 years.

Manchester City were confirmed as champions after Taiwo Awoniyi’s first-half goal saw Forest earn the three points that secured their top-flight status.

It was a bitter pill for Arteta to swallow after his side had led the league table for the majority of the campaign, spending 248 days at the summit.

An eight-point gap separated Arsenal and City in March, but an alarming slide coupled with a late season surge saw the North London club overtaken by Pep Guardiola’s City to claim a third straight title and a fifth in six seasons.

“Really sad day, a lot of difficult emotions, we lost the game, we lost the championship after 10 and a half months fighting for it and nine and a half months almost on top of it,” he said.

“We built a lot of illusion and belief that we could go all the way and win it and in the end we fell short. Congratulations to Man City, they are the champions, they deserve to be the champions, they have done it for 38 games, we haven’t been able to do that.

“That is it and from my side I apologise because we have built that belief that we could do it and in the end the team wasn’t able to do it and that is my responsibility.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reacts during the English Premier League match against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, 20 May 2023. Arsenal lost the match 1-0 to hand Manchester City the Premier League title. EPA

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. Reuters

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper and Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta. Getty Images

Serge Aurier and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest celebrate after the team's victory. Forest's 1-0 win over Arsenal secured their Premier League status. Getty Images

The LED score board at the City Ground shows the full-time score. Getty Images

Felipe of Nottingham Forest celebrates after the team's victory. Getty Images

Serge Aurier of Nottingham Forest films the celebrations on his phone. Getty Images

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper celebrates. AFP

Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal looks dejected following the team's defeat. Getty Images

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah reacts after failing to score. AFP

Nottingham Forest's Taiwo Awoniyi and Jesse Lingard celebrate avoiding relegation. Reuters

Nottingham Forest's Nigerian striker Taiwo Awoniyi scores against Arsenal. AFP

“Today is just a lot of sadness. You see a lot of people, they put everything, they put so much work, so much belief and so much hours and I am sad, I am sad for them because we wanted to find a way and squeeze everything we had in that group.

“We fell short and this is my job and my responsibility, I have to analyse that and think.

“Today we should have played much better, we gave them a goal and gave them another chance to score another goal if they wanted and we fell short to break them down.

“You need, when you come to April and May, 24 players there and available, fit and playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go and for many reasons we haven’t had that.

“There are key moments in the league that define, the momentum goes there, the result goes there and we didn’t have those margins going on our side.”