Manager Mikel Arteta has lamented the inability of his boys to deal with Everton’s physical threat in their 1-0 defeat to Tofees on Saturday.
The defeat, courtesy of James Tarkowski’s second-half header at Goodison Park is Arsenal’s second loss of the season- first to Manchester city in September last year.
Speaking after the game, the gaffer who also expressed his positives about the match believes that the result will serve as a lesson to his team as they continue their title push.
“We had loads of the ball and we generated many chances, but we lacked that purpose and quality in the final third,” he told BT Sport.
“Then we conceded and they slowed the game down and we struggled.
“They do this to every team. Their physicality is their strength. If you want to control the game against them you have to control this. We did not do that.
“We needed more composure and to better control the game emotionally. We gave away so many unnecessary free-kicks and that’s what they want.
“Today I love them much better than the week before or a month ago. It is easy to be next to someone when they are winning well. I am still so proud of all of these players, they deserve it.
“This is not going to be a rosy pathway. This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today.”
Arsenal will be targeting a return to winning ways when they face Brentford next Saturday.