{"id":2039,"date":"2026-04-12T02:19:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2026-04-12T02:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:19:31","slug":"big-punch-in-the-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=2039","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Big punch in the face&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5152364\" data-slug-id=\"2765966\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta broke his silence after the Gunners&#8217; 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday (April 11). The loss marks a potential blow to their hopes of winning the title after a 22-year wait. <\/p>\n<p>Eli Junior Kroupi opened the score for the visitors at the Emirates (17&#8242;), with Viktor Gyokeres equalizing from the penalty spot before the half-time whistle (35&#8242;). However, things did not end well for Arsenal as Alex Scott (74&#8242;) made it to the scoresheet, securing three points for Bournemouth. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners still remain at the top of the league with 70 points from 32 games, but Manchester City have two games in hand and are nine points behind (61 points). If Pep Guardiola&#8217;s side wins their remaining two games, they could reduce the gap to three points only. <\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>In the post-match press conference following the defeat to Bournemouth, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta opened up about the major blow to their title hopes. He said (via <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SamJDean\/status\/2042965368902230343?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">The Telegraph journalist Sam Dean<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;It\u2019s a big punch in the face. Now it\u2019s about how we react to that. Today there were certain very basic things we did extremely badly.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>With Arsenal&#8217;s latest loss, the Premier League title race remains open. If Manchester City wins both their remaining games and their clash against Arsenal, they will be tied with the Gunners on points. The title may then be decided on goal difference, if both teams win their remaining games. <\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta weighs in on areas to improve after 2-1 loss to Bournemouth<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sk-app-thumbnail\" alt=\"Mikel Arteta - Source: Getty\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1295\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Mikel Arteta - Source: Getty\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/4b4b8-17759251429209-1920.jpg?w=640\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201295%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Mikel Arteta &#8211; Source: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the post-match press conference, Mikel Arteta opened up on the areas they need to improve on following the loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League. He said (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arsenal.com\/news\/every-word-artetas-post-bournemouth-presser-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">the official website<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;There were a lot of situations, I don&#8217;t want to go into that detail. They were quite obvious and we need to do that much better in order to have certain control and dominance in the game, otherwise it&#8217;s difficult.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>He added: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We were very far from the level that we were shown. That&#8217;s for certain, especially in certain areas that are critical when you play against a team like Bournemouth. They were very clear. But, again, I don&#8217;t want to criticise any player, especially here, publicly.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The blow in the Premier League comes after the Gunners lost two titles this season. They suffered a 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and a 2-1 loss to Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-final. They still have the Premier League and the Champions League in hand to make the season successful. <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" style=\"background: none;\" src=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Pratyasha Sarkar<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta broke his silence after the Gunners&#8217; 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}