^ ^ Freddie Ljungberg addresses Arsenal ‘bottlers’ label after ‘tough’ Man City loss

Mikel Arteta watched his team slip to defeat at the Etihad on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)

Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg admits defeat to Manchester City is a big psychological blow which will be tough for his former team to recover from.

The Gunners suffered a huge setback in the Premier League title race on Sunday as they were beaten 2-1 by their closest rivals at the Etihad.

Rayan Cherki opened the scoring with a brilliant early goal, before Kai Havertz equalised with a bizarre one just two minutes later.

The German charged down City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and the Italian’s attempted clearance spooned into the back of the net.

There was not much in it and both teams created chances, but Erling Haaland completed the scoring on 65 minutes, finishing off a counter-attack in typically ruthless fashion.

Arsenal had a chance to draw level again at the death but Havertz put his free header in the penalty box over the bar.

Mikel Arteta’s team remains three points clear at the top of the table, but Manchester City have a game in hand and can leapfrog the Gunners if they win at Burnley on Wednesday.

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Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland are back on course for the title (Picture: Getty Images)

Ljungberg, who won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, admits the loss will be a hard one to take mentally and the prospect of another failed title race will be difficult for the players to deal with.

‘I think it will be big,’ the Swede told ViaPlay when asked how big a psychological blow the defeat will be for Arsenal.

‘Of course they’re professional football players and they have to deal with it. But they’ve been on top for so, so long and they’ve had history from different seasons, been called “bottlers”.

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‘Obviously I live in London, they’ve been talking about this now for the last two or three weeks. Their fans have been worried, it’s been a talking point.

‘It’s tough for them, but at the same time, you have to switch on and hope City drop points somewhere. The main thing is you concentrate on your own game, you take the points that’s needed if City slip up. But what City did today, I was impressed.’

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, who also played for Manchester City at the end of his career, feels Arsenal are failing to bridge the experience gap to their rivals when it comes to winning titles.

There now is a very real chance that Arteta’s side will finish second for the fourth season on the bounce.

Arsenal face yet more Premier League title disappointment (Picture: Getty Images)

‘The experience in this period is everything,’ said the iconic goalkeeper. ‘Understanding that even if there is a little bump here and there, you can still win it.

‘Arsenal don’t have it. It’s four consecutive years they find themselves in this situation and they still haven’t managed to get it over the line.’

The Gunners still have five Premier League games to play and there remains the chance that the destination of the title could come down to goal difference.

After City go to Burnley on Wednesday night, Arsenal are next in action at home against Newcastle on Saturday evening.

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^ ^ Gary Neville names one crucial mistake Arsenal made in Manchester City defeat

Arsenal suffered a huge setback at Manchester City on Sunday (Picture: Getty Images)

Gary Neville felt Arsenal were ‘really good’ in defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, but one lapse cost them in the crunch game in the title race.

Pep Guardiola’s side won the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland either side of a Kai Havertz equaliser.

It was a thoroughly entertaining contest as both teams played with energy and intent, while the stakes were incredibly high at the top of the table.

Arsenal came up short and Neville points to one moment in the build-up to the home side’s second goal which he believes cost them in an otherwise impressive performance in dealing with Manchester City.

Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, he said: ‘The one mistake…on the goal where Manchester city counter-attack. What Arsenal did brilliantly in the first half was all push up together when Manchester City had the ball deep with Donnarumma or the centre-backs.

‘When they counter-attack they all get back really quickly and sunk in. I don’t know what went wrong, but Donnarumma plays a ball for the goal, he throws it, and it goes in between maybe Martinelli and Havertz on this side and all of a sudden there was acres of space. Why?

‘That shouldn’t happen. Something’s gone fundamentally wrong.

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"They're not really set" 😳Roy Keane breaks down what went wrong for Arsenal in the build-up to Erling Haaland's goal 👇 pic.twitter.com/9vkT4Szc0w

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 19, 2026

‘Either the back four haven’t pushed in and made it all compact high up the pitch with the forward players or the forward players have gone too high. I would say probably the midfield players and back players haven’t pushed in. In the first half, if you remember, Gabriel was pressing on the edge of the 18 yard box at one point.

‘Arsenal’s fatigue, maybe, and City wearing them out means that they’ve probably just not done the full press like they were in the first half. Half of them have gone and half of them have stayed back and that’s when you get big gaps from front to back

‘That was the mistake I think they made on the goal when they’re counter-attacking and Haaland gets that goal.’

Erling Haaland scored Manchester City’s winner (Picture: Getty Images)

‘That was a disappointing one because they really did work that defensively well. They either went full press or they all went back and defended deep. They got stuck in between, half and half.’

The tactical error was also spotted by Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira in the Sky Sports studio, but both pointed the finger at Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli for pressing too high and too early, leaving the space behind him.

‘Martinelli helps the goalkeeper by pressing too early, they’re not really set,’ said Keane. ‘And they don’t need to go chasing the game. Martinelli doesn’t have to press there and, if anything, it encourages the goalkeeper to throw it out.’

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His old rival said: ‘I completely agree. Even when Donnarumma gets the ball in his hand there’s a huge space between the Arsenal back four and the front players, a huge space that Arsenal wasn’t ready to put pressure.’

Neville may have pointed to one tactical mistake over the game, but Arsenal also missed chances to score which will haunt them if they do not win the Premier League title.

Mikel Arteta’s men remain top of the table, but maybe not for much longer as Manchester City can leapfrog them with a win at Burnley on Wednesday.

Kai Havertz missed two great chances (Picture: Getty Images)

‘They weren’t ruthless today, because I think the performance was there,’ said Neville. ‘That’s as good as you’ll see a team come and play at Manchester City. They were really good, however, they’ve missed three or four big chances.

‘Havertz misses the one-on-one when Donnarumma comes out, [Eberchi] Eze’s one off the post, then you’ve got the Gabriel header and the Havertz header at the end. Three or four massive chances.

‘If you said you’re going to get three or four chances like that against Manchester City here, you have to take one of them! They’ve not been ruthless and taken it.’

The title race is still very much on as victory for City at Turf Moor would only put them level on points with Arsenal, but ahead on goal difference or goals scored.

Then would come a sprint finish with five games to go and neither team able to afford a mistake.

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^ ^ Bruno Fernandes responds to Manchester United star’s dig at Chelsea flop Alejandro Garnacho

Alejandro Garnacho failed to make an impact against Manchester United (Picture: Getty)

Alejandro Garnacho was ridiculed by his former Manchester United teammates in the aftermath of Chelsea’s latest damaging Premier League defeat.

Matheus Cunha’s fist-half goal was enough to secure three valuable points for Michael Carrick’s side who are firmly in the drivingseat to secure Champions League qualification.

Chelsea, by contrast, are in the midst of a dismal run with Saturday’s loss their fourth in a row without scoring.

The problems are piling up for Liam Rosenior who is already under immense scrutiny just four months after he was hired to replace the outgoing Enzo Maresca.

While Chelsea appear to be backing their manager, a decision already appears to have been made on their underperforming Argentina international winger.

Garnacho swapped Old Trafford for Stamford Bridge in the summer in a £40million move following an acrimonious departure from the Theatre of Dreams, but Chelsea are said to be open to offers and ready to cut their losses.

The 21-year-old would have been hoping to gain a measure of revenge last night when he was summoned from the bench early on to replace the stricken Estevao.

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Bruno Fernandes jokingly accused Luke Shaw of ‘a violation’ (Picture: Instagram)

In keeping with much of what has gone before this season, however, Garnacho was easily nullified by United’s makeshift defence which was missing four first-choice centre-halves.

Garnacho was booed throughout by United’s away fans and the feeling in the dressing room is not too dissimilar, judging by the social media activity several players indulged in after the game.

Luke Shaw, who was in direct opposition against his former teammate, posted a picture on Instagram which depicted him standing over Garnacho after had fallen to the floor.

Chelsea are already open to offers for Alejandro Garnacho (Picture: Getty)

Bruno Fernandes played a big role in Manchester United’s win at Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Skipper Bruno Fernandes responded to the post with a gif accompanied by a caption which read ‘that’s a violation’ while Alex Telles, who left United last summer, shared two fire emojis and a love heart. 

Chelsea, who trail fifth-placed Liverpool by four points having played a game more, have lost four league games in a row without scoring for the first time in 28 years. Not since 1912 have the team endured a longer streak.

In all competitions the run stands at six defeats in their last seven, during which they have conceded 16 times, with seven of their nine goals scored coming against Sky Bet League One Port Vale.

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Asked what failure to qualify for the Champions League would mean for his own future, Rosenior said: ‘The honest answer is I don’t know.’

He could at least point to a much-improved display following the capitulation here against Manchester City a week ago, but his team look short of belief that despite creating a wave of chances, they appeared to have given up long before the end.

‘Tonight was a really difficult result to take,’ said Rosenior. ‘They’ve had one shot on our goal when we’re down to 10 men off an injury, and they score.

‘Then we have wave after wave of attack, crosses in the box, moments that we don’t take advantage of.

‘We have to keep working. We have to turn this around.’

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