Mikel Arteta has challenged Arsenal to show the mental strength to win the Premier League after falling to a nervous 3-2 home defeat against Manchester United.
The Gunners ended the weekend just four points clear of Manchester City and Aston Villa after substitute Matheus Cunha’s stunning 87th-minute strike gave United their first league win at Arsenal since 2017.
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Lisandro Martinez’s 29th-minute own goal gave Arsenal a first-half lead, but a mistake from Martín Zubimendi gifted Bryan Mbeumo the chance to level eight minutes later.
Patrick Dorgu’s superb 50th-minute volley put United ahead and after Mikel Merino scrambled in an 84th-minute equaliser, Cunha struck late to consign Arsenal to their third consecutive league game without a win.
Former Gunners captain Patrick Vieira told Sky Sports after the game that “there are still some questions about the mental strength of the team” as they aim to secure their first league title since 2004 and Arteta said in response: “That’s fine. I mean, we accept every opinion, where it comes and where it’s coming from, and they will have the right reason to say it. At the end, we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to a match day.
“We were absolutely brilliant in Milan [beating Inter 3-1 on Tuesday], and today we weren’t that good. I don’t know if it was mental, because of how much they played [in Italy], but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time. That was the difference.”
Arsenal were booed off by some fans at full-time despite Sunday’s loss being the first they have suffered since May of 2025 as they top the Premier League and Champions League tables.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Arteta when that reaction was put to him. “We have to do more, so maybe that’s not enough. We have to do more, there’s nothing else. We have to do our very best.
“When you do that, you can rest in peace. Today we really certainly tried to do our very best, but we weren’t efficient enough against a team that is very well organised, and we got punished because of our own mistakes as well.
“I think it’s the first time sitting here this season at home and we lost. It’s part of the journey to winning. If not, nobody will lose football matches. It’s how we react to that, and I am very convinced, because I know those players in the dressing them and how much we want it, that we’re going to react immediately.”
Arsenal face Kairat Almaty on Wednesday in their final game of the league phase of the Champions League. Arteta’s side has already qualified for the round of 16 and can finish head-to-head play with a perfect record with a win.
