Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has issued his verdict on the Gunners' defeat to Man City instructing his former team to keep their composure as they push for the Premier League title. For the fourth consecutive game, Mikel Arteta watched his Arsenal team come away with less than a victory as their latest setback places them second in the Premier League table with City now occupying first place.
Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland were all on target in City's victory at Emirates Stadium with Bukayo Saka on the scoresheet for the hosts. Two of the goals scored by Pep Guardiola's men came about through unforced errors with Gabriel Magalhaes and Takehiro Tomiyasu surrendering possession in dangerous areas.
City have now beaten the Gunners twice in less than a month following up their FA Cup win by securing a Premier League triumph over their title rivals to go top. In less than two days Arsenal will be hoping to respond to their recent poor run with Henry sending a clear message to his old team ahead of their clash against Aston Villa.
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“I thought the cup game was very significant, now they’ve come to your place and they’ve beaten you, can you now show that you can respond? Because, since the beginning of the season, City have had to respond to what Arsenal were doing," he told CBS Sports, via The Mirror, when asked what he would say to his old team.
"Can you keep your composure, go to Villa and rectify that straight away at the weekend? And show that you can be with them all the way and try to do something at their ground, because now it’s going to be very difficult.
“Man United are just behind, I don’t know if they can stay with City and Arsenal, who knows. But just stay calm, you lost against a great team today, who brought on [Phil] Foden, [Manuel] Akanji – do you have the same bench at Arsenal? I’m not so sure.
Arsenal's next four fixtures are against teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table and while they should not be underestimated, Arsenal have the potential to secure 16 points. Henry has admitted it wasn't going to be a season full of wins for his former side, but how they react to this setback now is of high importance.
“Keep your composure. You lost that one but that doesn’t mean that everything now has to go in the bin. Keep your composure, go and try and rectify things straight away against Villa and see what you can do. You still have a game in hand. Now it’s going to be tough though.”
He added: “It was always going to happen during the season, where you’re not going to win, maybe two to three games. How are we going to react to that? It’s not about how you fall, it’s about how you get back on your feet and stand after that. Hopefully we can do that, but City are used to playing that type of role and that type of battle.”
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