Martin Odegaard has conceded that a nightmare four-game winless run in April is to blame for the collapse of Arsenal 's title bid.
The Gunners had dumbfounded their critics to lead the Premier League for the majority of the campaign and looked to be in a fantastic position to clinch their first domestic crown since 2004 as recently as a few weeks ago under the guidance of Mikel Arteta.
However, that feat now looks beyond Arsenal after Sunday's chastening 3-0 loss against Brighton. The Seagulls ran riot at the Emirates to down the Gunners, who had seen Manchester City extend their lead at the summit just hours before their own game.
And speaking after the match, Odegaard admitted that any faint hopes that Arsenal may have harboured in relation to winning the title were now gone. The Gunners skipper said: "It looks difficult, to be honest, we have to be realistic, I don’t think City are going to make many mistakes now.
"The only thing we can do now is get back and finish the season in a good way, I think everyone deserves that, especially the fans. That’s the only thing we can do and we’ll have to see.
"We’ve done a lot of good things [this season], but at the moment it’s just disappointing the way we ended. Especially the three games before the Chelsea game, and then this game today."
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Prior to a 3-1 win over Chelsea at the start of the month, Arsenal had dropped points in four consecutive games against Liverpool, West Ham, Manchester City and Southampton, who were relegated at the weekend.
That run of results enabled Pep Guardiola 's side to claw back an eight-point deficit at the summit; the reigning champions now need to win just one of their remaining three matches to retain their Premier League crown.
Speaking immediately after the match, Arteta was visibly hurting and appeared to shoulder the blame for Arsenal's capitulation. The Spaniard told Sky Sports: "I hate the feeling of letting people down when they're really expecting something. That's the biggest regret I have today."
Arteta went on to bemoan the Gunners' poor second-half performance. After heading in level at the break, Brighton stunned their hosts with three goals courtesy of Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan.
He added: "A week ago, I was standing here feeling proud [after the win over Newcastle ] and today we have to apologise for the performance in the second half. It was not acceptable.
"Mathematically, it's still possible, but today it's impossible to think about it. We need to digest the result and the performance in the second half, understand why and have a different reaction."
