Arsenal on Sunday experienced a loss for the first time since falling to Manchester United in September.
The North London club manager, Mikel Arteta acknowledged that Arsenal, who are now atop the Premier League, lacked composure in their shocking 1-0 loss to struggling Everton on Saturday.
Arsenal suffered just their second league defeat this season thanks to James Tarkowski’s header in the second half.
Arteta, the manager of the Gunners, was disappointed because he had intended to extend his team’s lead over second-place Manchester City to eight points.
Arsenal experienced defeat for the first time since falling to Manchester United in September, and Arteta alleged that his team lacked the composure necessary to handle Everton’s aggressive game plan under new manager Sean Dyche.
Arteta said, “We had loads of the ball but we lacked that purpose and quality in the final third, we generated many chances. But then we conceded and they slowed the game down and we struggled.
“Everton do this to every team that is their strength with the height, the physicality is their strength, if you want to control the game against them you have to control this. We did not do that today.
“We needed more composure and to control emotionally the game better. We gave away so many unnecessary free-kicks and that’s what they want.”
If Manchester City defeats Tottenham on Sunday, the distance between them and Arsenal might be reduced to two points.
Arteta criticized his team for their lackluster performance at Everton, but he still believed they could survive the competitive title chase.
“Today I love them much better than the week before or a month ago. It is easy to be next to someone when they are winning well. I am still so proud of all of these players, they deserve it,” he said.
“This is not going to be a rose pathway. This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today.”