Now the moment is to stand up and be counted – Mikel Arteta after loss against Aston Villa

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has urged his players to stand up and be counted after their 2-0 loss against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Both teams failed to find the back of the net in the first 80 minutes of play but Leon Bailey broke the deadlock in the 84th minute for the visitors.

Ollie Watkins then scored the second goal of the night for the tourists as Villa stunned the Gunners. This loss has hampered Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League as they now trail table toppers Manchester City by two points. City, on the other hand, registered a convincing win of 5-1 against Luton Town despite injury woes.

Asked if there was a danger their season could quickly fizzle out, Arteta replied: “If one result is going to do that then we are not strong enough. That’s very simple. We had one of the best performances that we’ve had all season in the first half against a really good team.

“It should have been three or four or more. It didn’t happen. In the second half the momentum shifted. We could not control and generate what we did in the first half. We conceded two very poor goals and we lost the game.

“Congratulate the opponent and stand up. Now the moment is to stand up and be counted. When you win and win and win for four months it’s very simple to do it. The moment to do it is now.

“We don’t have any other solution. If you want to win championships, if you want to be there in the Champions League, when you have these moments you have to stand up. If not that means that you don’t have a quality that is very necessary.

“Now it’s a big test for us.”

Meanwhile, Arsenal had led the top position for the major part of the previous season of the Premier League but had veered off the track at the fag end.

Arsenal will next take on Bayern Munich in the second-leg quarterfinal of the Champions League on Wednesday night.