Mikel Arteta seems to blame himself for the way Arsenal's title charge fell apart after a 3-0 defeat by Brighton at the Emirates to gift Manchester City the league.
The Gunners were played off the park in truth, with Brighton getting the better of them both tactically and physically. The Seagulls pressed and harried their hosts into regular mistakes while showcasing the kind of composure on the ball that Arsenal seemed to lack.
After the full-time whistle, Arteta failed to hide his disappointment as he conceded the morale was low. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Spaniard insisted he felt responsible as he claimed: "I hate the feeling of letting people down when they're really expecting something. That's the biggest regret I have today."
He also went on to dissect how quickly emotions can be flipped on their head, adding: "A week ago, I was standing here feeling proud 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."
It was arguably Arsenal's worst performance of the season and they were second-best to Brighton from the first whistle.
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Julio Enciso put the visitors in front 50 minutes in after he was allowed the freedom of the six-yard box to head beyond Aaron Ramsdale. It has since emerged that defender Jakub Kiwior had gone down clutching his ankle, in turn allowing Enciso the time and space to punish Arsenal.
Arteta's men offered nothing in terms of an attacking response and instead found themselves two goals down minutes before second-half stoppage time.
Brighton's second stemmed from a Leandro Trossard error, which will only make the goal feel all the more sweet given his past ties to the Seagulls and the way he forced through his Amex exit.
There was more pain for the Gunners before full-time, when Pervis Estupinan responded quickest to Ramsdale's parry to cap off a stunning afternoon.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard echoed the sentiments of his manager come the full-time whistle, as he explained: "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."
