Arteta Says Gunners will ‘Bounce back’ from Dramatic Villa Loss 

Mikel Arteta insisted yesterday that that Premier League Leaders Arsenal, will recover from the frustration of a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa that blew the title race wide open.

Emiliano  Buendia fired Villa’s winners with the last kick of the of a pulsating game, ending the Gunners’ 18-match unbeaten run in all competitions in the process.

Arsenal’s LeandroTrossardhad come off the bench to score a second half equaliser after Matty Cash’s first half opener at Villa park.

It was Arsenal’s first defeat since losing at Liverpool in August and only their second in the entire campaign

The north Londoners’ rare setback moved Villa to within three points of first place, while Manchester City closed the gap to two points with victory over Sunderland later on Saturday.

The Gunners have a history of collapsing after establishing strong leads in the title battle.

They have finished as runners-up for the last three seasons and haven’t been crowned champions since 2004.

But Artetaremains confident they will handle the mounting pressure.

“That is the league, you go to Old Trafford, you go to St James’ Park, you go to Chelsea, you come here, we have been in a lot of difficult grounds,” he said.

“The result could have been different, the reality is not. We went 18 games unbeaten and still we are there, close to each other.

“That is the level of the league, we know that. That is the opportunity that we have ahead of us and that’s it.

“Now it is time to bounce back, they have given me all the right reasons to think we are going to perform at the same level. We move on. We will learn from today and it will make us a better team.”

Arteta knows from bitter experience how many twists and turns are still to come in the fight for Premier League supremacy.

He has no intention of letting his frustration show following a performance marred by mistakes from his injury-hit defence, which is currently without three centre-backs.

“It’s five months into the competition and so far we have coped. We are going to have to prove we can cope again, again, again for another six months,” he said.

“People who think at this moment we are going to be 10 points clear live in a different world.”