Arsenal traveled to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday in a top of the table clash against their direct challengers for the league title. The game was the pick of the week and one which could give a clear indication about the credentials of both the sides. In the end, the scoreline suggested that it was quite a one-sided affair as a rampant Manchester City scored 6 goals against the league leaders.

The Gunners were wary of City’s strengths at home, having seen them dismantle Tottenham Hotspur by a 6-0 scoreline and Manchester United by 4-1 already this season, but they boasted of the league’s best defensive record which gave them a slim chance of stopping the likes of Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo; however it was not meant to be. They leaked 6 goals and also lost key defender Laurent Koscielny to a severe cut on his knee, who is expected to be out for a while.

Yahoo! Eurosport report that Wenger has spoken out about his team’s performance, highlighting the fact that he was upset that the league’s meanest defense shipped 6 goals. He said, “It was a difficult game. We had the best defence in the league and we conceded many goals today. Honestly, we could have scored at least six as well, it was a very open game. I think we made too many mistakes. Our strength until now was our defensive discipline but that went as the game went on.”

He further spoke about the missed opportunity to go a massive 9 points clear of City, but instead seeing Arsenal’s lead trimmed down to just 2 points following Saturday’s loss. “What hurts me more was that we had the opportunity to put Man City at nine points and now they are three points (behind). That is very different. That is a team that was not unbeatable today,” continued Wenger.

With Arsenal set to host Chelsea next, Wenger will be hoping that the 9 day break will help his team refresh and regroup ahead of this important game, and hoping to get the 3 points in order to get their momentum back and sustain their league leaders status.