Mikel Arteta admitted his arsenal The squad was “extremely poor” after the Premier League champions were relegated 3-0 defeat against Brighton.
Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres found the net to give the Seagulls a famous and deserved victory over the Gunners, who endured a miserable afternoon on the south coast.
Arteta’s men were under pressure from the early stages and found themselves two goals down before the break.
Shockingly, last season’s Champions League runners-up fell further behind after the break and failed to mount any sort of comeback against a very impressive Brighton side.
The result marked a first defeat of the campaign for the north Londoners, with Arteta unable to hide his frustration at full-time.
“It was a really disappointing result and performance,” the Gunners boss told Sky Sports.
“Brighton were another team from our side. We were very poor technically and didn’t respect the game.”
Brighton
arsenal
“This can happen again”
Despite his disappointment, Arteta was quick to praise the hosts’ performance and insisted his players must learn from the experience.
The Arsenal manager added: “Credit to Brighton. They’ve gone up again. It’s a great lesson to learn. It doesn’t take away from what the team has done in recent weeks.
“But now we have to make sure we learn the lesson because this can happen again.”
Next up for Arsenal after the long international break is the visit of Leeds United at the Emirates on October 10, before welcoming French side Lille in the Champions League three days later.