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'We were punished' - Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal's thumping defeat at Man City could have been even worse - but Gunners won't give up in title chase

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted his side were well beaten by Manchester City and could have conceded even more goals at the Etihad.

Arsenal lost 4-1 at Manchester City
Lead cut to two points
City also have two games in hand

WHAT HAPPENED? The Gunners saw their title hopes take another hit on Wednesday as they were comfortably beaten at Manchester City. Arteta admitted after the game that the hosts were deserved winners and far superior to his team on the night.

WHAT THEY SAID: "We were beaten by a better team. They were exceptional today and when that's the case it's extremely difficult to reach that level and we were nowhere near," he told BT Sport. "We were punished and we could have been even more punished. We're not going to give up. There are five games to go in this league, anything can happen."

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AND WHAT'S MORE: Arteta was also asked about his team's title hopes, after seeing their lead cut to two points, and whether he feels they will need to win their remaining five games of the season.

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"I don’t know what is going to be required. For sure we have lift the players up because they suffered tonight and it was a difficult one to swallow," he told reporters. "We have to lift them up tomorrow, doing everything that we have done so far so well, to win the next match to earn the right to win it. That’s where we have to start"

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Manchester City now look destined to go on and add another Premier League title to their collection. Pep Guardiola's side have won their last seven Premier League matches in a row and have Erling Haaland scoring goals for fun. The Norwegian broke Mohamed Salah's Premier League record against Arsenal, netting for the 33rd time in the top flight this season.