Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta appeared in a press statement following the 2-1 loss against Aston Villa in the fifteenth round of the English Premier League, at Villa Park.

The coach said: "The loss was very painful, especially after all the effort the team put into the match. It was an open game, and congratulations to Aston Villa, they are truly a good team."

He added: "We conceded a big goal in the first half, we controlled a bit in the second half, and I had a feeling that we would win the match, so losing it this way is painful. After eighteen matches without defeat, you lose a game and that's football."

He continued: "What happened, happened. We had a great chance when Declan [Rice] passed the ball to Noni [Madueke], but in return, they got a throw-in and scored the goal – this is football and the quality of this league."

Regarding Leandro Trossard: "He was very good. We knew he was a player coming back from injury and started feeling it again, so we had to take him off."

He concluded on the team's ability to recover and compete again: "The level of consistency the boys have shown during this period is incredible, so all I think about is that we can do it again."