'No Excuses’—Mikel Arteta Brutally Honest About Dire Arsenal Performance

The Gunners were miles off it as Bournemouth claimed a 2–1 victory in north London.

The Arsenal manager lamented his side’s performance against Bournemouth. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted his side had “no excuses” for their lackluster performance in Saturday’s shock 2–1 defeat to Bournemouth—a result the Spaniard called a “big punch in the face” for all involved.

The league-leading Gunners had the chance to move 12 points clear of Manchester City ahead of their clash at Chelsea on Sunday, but were instead deservedly beaten by Andoni Iraola’s Cherries.

A dreary Arsenal start was punished by Eli Junior Kroupi’s opener, and although Viktor Gyökeres drew the hosts level from the penalty spot, there was never an upsurge from Arteta’s men, who seemed to be clinging onto a point before boyhood Spurs supporter Alex Scott struck with 15 minutes remaining.

Scott’s neatly-worked winner means City will close the gap to six points with a win at Stamford Bridge, while boasting all the momentum heading into next week’s potentially decisive duel between the two title rivals at the Etihad Stadium.

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Disappointment Evident As Arteta Faces the Music

Arsenal are crawling towards the league title. | Visionhaus/Getty Images

“Well, extremely disappointing,” Arteta told the assembled media after Saturday’s setback. “It’s a big punch on the face. That’s what I said to the boys. And now it’s about how we react to that. Because game on, you’re going to require now a big speed, a lot of fight and very clear. How are we going to approach that?"

Arsenal have so far done a good job of ensuring that any blips have not drifted into sustained malaises. However, they’ve now lost three of their previous four games in all competitions, having struggled to match their stellar levels of performance from the first half of the season throughout 2026.

There were once ambitious dreams of a quadruple chase. Suddenly, supporters are fearing the worst again.

“There's no grey areas. We are in, we are out. And we need to be very, very, very strong and determined to approach it in a different way than we’ve done today, especially when the game wasn’t going our way," Arteta added.

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Arteta: Arsenal Nowhere Near Level Required

Arsenal No Answer. pic.twitter.com/cx1yLSR2ra

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) April 11, 2026

The Arsenal boss, who asked plenty of supporters ahead of the game, apologised to those in attendance and lamented the sloppiness of his side’s showing. “We were very far from the level that I was shown. That’s for certain, especially in certain areas that are critical,” he said.

Bournemouth are great facilitators of chaos, and the control-oriented Gunners were never able to come to grips with the Cherries’ dynamism and work out of possession.

“There are no excuses. There is no this or that or the things that are here. It’s about how we're going to stand up, first of all, individually. And then as a team to change that immediately on Wednesday.”

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The Emirates Stadium should be slightly more relaxed when Sporting CP visit for the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal, with Arsenal leading the tie 1–0 thanks to Kai Havertz’s stoppage-time winner in Lisbon.

Arteta will hope to oversee serene progression into the semifinals before they venture up north to face their ominous title challengers.

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