Arsenal Fell Short - Arteta Admits

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta congratulated Manchester City for winning the Premier League on Saturday, while he admitted that his young team fell short.

Eight points clear two months ago, Arsenal won only two of their last eight games, with defeat to Nottingham Forest handing the title to Pep Guardiola's unstoppable side.

Speaking to reporters after the Forest game, Arteta said: "It's a really sad day. We fell short. I congratulate Man City. They are the champions, they deserved to win. I apologise because we have generated that belief that we could do it, but we were unable to and that is my responsibility. Today we should have played much better. We gave them a goal. When you come to April and May, you need 24 players playing at their best, full of confidence and ready to go, and for many reasons we have not had that."

"It has been an incredible journey for us over 10 months competing with City, being ahead of them for so long. We were so eager to go for something in sport and we didn't reach it. We have learned huge lessons. We have transformed a lot at this club, we have made huge steps, but the icing on the cake is to win a championship and we fell short," he added.The North London club led the standings for 248 days this season: the most for any team who have then failed to win the Premier League.