Declan Rice has insisted the Premier League title race 'isn't over' following Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. Erling Haaland's goal handed Pep Guardiola's side victory at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, cutting down the Gunners' lead at the top of the table to just three points.
City could leapfrog the North Londoners when they make the trip to Burnley's Turf Moor on Wednesday, provided they take all three points by a margin of at least two goals. Yet with such slender margins separating the title challengers, Rice appears to have retained his belief in the Gunners' ability to finish the season wth the bragging rights.
At the final whistle, Sky Sports cameras caught the Arsenal midfielder rallying his side. Spotting Martin Odegaard in the center of the field, Rice called out: "It isn't over," as per The Mirror.
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Mikel Arteta mirrored that defiant stance in his post-game press conference, describing the upcoming run of games as a 'new league.' The Gunners manager said: "I believe today, I believe on Wednesday a week ago, because I see them every day and I know the level that we have.
"But today if they need to be more convinced, I think they are now more convinced. They were talking about it in the dressing room. It's a new league now. They were a game in hand.
"We have three points of advantage and five games to play. So everything is still to play for. So we know how much we've won it and we're not going to stop and we're going to go again, that's for sure."
Arsenal have almost a week to rest and recuperate before they return to action. The Gunners are due to face Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, April 25.
Arteta continued: "First of all, to win a game in this league is extremely tough. I mean look at the fixtures that we both have. It's going to be tough for both of them.
"If not we would have already 80 points or 85 points like happened in other seasons, it is not the case. So we will prepare game by game and learn from what happened today and do better."
On the mood in the locker room, Arteta said: "Obviously, they were very disappointed not to get a result from the game in the manner that it happened.
"That's the feeling, immediately you could tell that they were talking about, and they said okay, we lost an opportunity today, but we have the biggest one now in the next five games, so let's do it."