Gunners hit self-destruct button again

IF ARSENAL ultimately fail in their bid to return to the Champions League they might end up looking back on this week as the one when they blew it.

All of a sudden the initiative in the race for the top four has seemingly swung from the red half of north London to the white. The worst destination of all for Arsenal.

Six days to forget have seen to all that. Two bad and ill-timed defeats along with two major injuries have seen to that. From a position of such promise where the coveted prize seemed theirs to lose, Arsenal have hit the selfdestruct button, a flaw they cannot seem to eradicate.

‘What happens now is that we criticise ourselves a lot and get slaps again — and we deserve that because we were really poor again in the first half — and lift ourselves up,’ said boss Mikel Arteta. ‘We still have everything to play for in the last eight games. We have to have a level of energy and visualise the beautiful challenge ahead and don’t sit back and let’s see what happens.’

For the second successive game, after Monday’s humiliation at Crystal Palace, the decisive moments befitting top-level teams came from their opponents. In particular the winner from Enock Mwepu, the star performer among a raft of them from Brighton. Leandro Trossard’s opener was not bad either. Those strikes rendered Arsenal’s late rally and Martin Odegaard’s consolation irrelevant.