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The EPL returned this Wednesday as Manchester City thrashed Arsenal 3-0 in an empty Etihad stadium. Manchester City were all over their opposition following Raheem Sterling opening the scoring in the dying minutes of the first half. Before Arsenal could even think of making a comeback, Kevin de Bruyne doubled the Cityzens lead thanks to a penalty which came at the expense of David Luiz, who received a red card for his involvement.
For Arsenal the final nail in the coffin came when Phil Fodden scored in the injury time. While the win doesn't have much impact on the EPL standings, it wasn't the start Arsenal fans were expecting after a break of over 2 months.
Arsenal's Kieran Tierney spoke to the press after the game, where he discussed the outcome of the game and what went wrong.
EPL Champions Manchester City dominate Arsenal after a slow start
The EPL defender spoke about the game and how things didn't go as the team had planned. Tierney also talked about the absence of fans and how it impacted his teams game.
"We've worked so hard the last few months and to have such setbacks so early on in a game is never easy, especially against a team like Man City, But another disappointment is that you've not got fans out there either, so it's always a miss when there's no fans."
The Arsenal player spoke about what went wrong during the match,
"Nothing really went to plan. That happens in football and you need to deal with it. Tonight we gave everything we could and things just went wrong at the wrong times. We just never recovered."
Tierney further elaborated.
"It was hard. I thought in the first half, up until the goal, we were coping well with it. Obviously the goal right before half-time kind of deflates you a little bit. Going in at half-time at 0-0, you've got every confidence."
He then continued,
"Even at 1-0 we still had belief, and then the red card makes it harder as well. When people are moving positions, it's hard. A team like Manchester City are going to punish you with the ball."
The current EPL season is going from bad to worse for Arsenal
While this was not the perfect start the Gunners were hoping for, Mikel Arteta definitely doesn't have the time to dwell on this defeat too much. Arsenal are still in 9th position on the EPL points table but will be hoping for a good finish to their lacklustre season.
Arsenal will face Brighton on the 20th of June in an away fixture at Falmer Stadium and will be hoping to bounce back after the humiliating defeat at the hands of Manchester City. Mikel Arteta also has a small problem related to skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's contract, which runs out in 2021.
With nine EPL fixtures left for them this season, Arsenal will need to be at their best, if they want to qualify for Europe next season, which is a must for a club of this size and stature.
