Mikel Arteta has admitted that it is "a very sad day" for Arsenal after they were defeated by Nottingham Forest and Manchester City were crowned Premier League Champions.
Despite sitting top of the table for a great majority of the Premier League campaign, a combination of late-season pressure and immense consistency shown by Pep Guardiola's side saw the Gunners surrender their lead and fail to earn it back.
While the season has been jam-packed with progression and positivity, all Arsenal fans will have experienced a degree of pain upon the final whistle at the City Ground, where Taiwo Awoniyi's goal separated the two teams.
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Arteta admitted as much in his post-match interview with Sky Sports but remained classy by congratulating his formal club on securing a third consecutive title and taking responsibility for such a disappointing display.
"First of all congratulations to City for winning the championship and it is a really sad day for us after everything we have done in the season.
"Now we have to face the reality and we gave a goal away, a huge chance away that we gave them, and couldn’t break them down. We could have been here three hours and still, we didn’t have enough to do that, so we have to face it, it is my responsibility and I have to take it."
The Spaniard also expressed regret in not taking the title race to the final day, when Arsenal welcome Wolves to the Emirates Stadium and the Citizens face a challenging trip to Brentford, who won at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium today.
He added: "For sure [there is regret] because that’s what we wanted to do today, we wanted to do it last Sunday, but this is football and your opponent plays enough to score a goal and they defended well, and we were unable to break them down."
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