Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal still have time to salvage their season despite being 10 points off the top four places.
It was a case of déjà vu as Manchester City swatted aside Arsenal 3-0 in Pep Guardiola’s 100th game in charge on Thursday night.
After meeting in the Carabao Cup final four days earlier, where City triumphed 3-0, a huge gulf between the two clubs was on show again in freezing conditions at the Emirates Stadium.
The result leaves Wenger’s side off the pace in the race to make the Champions League with winning the Europa League now their only realistic hope of ending the season on a high.
When asked if the season can still be salvaged, he replied: “Yes. We want to focus on the next game and continue to put in the effort we put in tonight,” he told Sky Sports.
“But we have quality and we want to show that.”
Wenger’s side created opportunities against free-flowing City but were wasteful in front of goal as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty.
Both he and Henrik Mkhitaryan have largely struggled to make an impact since joining in the January window – but Wenger is confident they will shine given time to adapt.
“They need time to adapt – things change quickly in sport,” he said.
“That’s part of modern sport – you have to accept that. Every game you lose you’re under a big pressure but they have just joined us – I’m sure they will do well.”
