Arteta breaks silence on Arsenal's stunning defeat against Man United: 'Happened in a really strange way…’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admitted Manchester United deserved full credit for beating them in a five-goal thriller at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners suffered their first home defeat of the season after going down 2-3 against United, who collected their second win in as many games since Michael Carrick took over as interim manager earlier this month.

Arsenal were off to a superb start as they dominated possession early on and seized the lead through Lisandro Martinez’s own goal close to the half-hour mark. United, however, made a brilliant comeback as Bryan Mbeumo leveled the scores less than 10 minutes later, while Patrick Dorgu put them in the lead five minutes into the second half with a sensational strike.

Mikel Merino appeared to have rescued a point for the home side with a goal off a corner in the 84th minute, only for Matheus Cunha to fire home the winner just three minutes later after coming in as a substitute for Mbeumo.

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Arteta rues Arsenal ‘dropping the standard’ after dominant start

“Well first of all you have to congratulate Manchester United for the victory. It happened in a really strange way to be fair. We were really dominant in the first half an hour, scored a goal and had another two brilliant chances to score,” Arteta told Sky Sports after Sunday’s thriller at the Emirates.

“Then we give them the goal, which is very unusual from our side. That changed the momentum and the energy a little bit. After that we dropped the standard, especially with things we have to do much better with the ball. The game wasn’t controlled.

“Then they had two magic moments, the two goals that they score from Dorgu and Cunha. Credit to them because in big games you need those moments,” the Spaniard added.

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United moved into the top four after registering back-to-back wins under Carrick, having beaten Manchester City 2-0 at the Old Trafford the previous week. Arsenal, meanwhile, remain four points ahead of title rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa despite their defeat, and will be hoping to widen the gap when they face Leeds United away from home on Saturday.

Arteta has led Arsenal to a second-place finish in each of the last three seasons and will be hoping to end the club’s two-decade wait for another Premier League title in May this year.

For Carrick, however, helping United return to the Champions League after finishing a dismal 15th last season will be a major turnaround, although the former Red Devils midfielder will certainly not rule out the possibility of finishing higher than fourth.