Mikel Arteta slammed Arsenal's performance in their 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest, convinced they were "nowhere near the standard required".
The loss meant Arsenal were eliminated at the third-round stage of the competition for only the second time in 26 seasons.
Arteta was back on the bench after a bout of coronavirus forced him to miss arguably their best performance of the season in the 2-1 defeat to Manchester City last weekend.
But he was not happy with what he saw at the City Ground, with substitute Lewis Grabban getting the winner for Forest, who were also the last team to beat Arsenal at this stage of the FA Cup.
Speaking after the game, Arteta told ITV Sport: "We are out of the competition and we have to apologise.
"When you have nine players out, that's a big explanation, but still I don't want to use excuses.
"The team we put out, I expected them to play better and to compete better than we did.
"When you don't do that in a cup against any opponent, you're out.
"What we've done today is nowhere near the standard required."
The 34th-minute withdrawal of left-back Nuno Tavares after a very sloppy start was the first indicator of potential frustration on Arteta's part.
Yet he opted against criticising the youngster, putting it down to a desire to simply change the level of the team.
Asked if it summed up his frustration, Arteta added: "No, it was a decision you have to make in certain moments to try improve the performance of the team, and that's what I did."
Arsenal will look to get this defeat out of their system as soon as possible, with an EFL Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool and a north London derby trip to Tottenham on the horizon.
Lopetegui agrees to succeed Moyes as West Ham manager – reports
Julen Lopetegui has reportedly agreed to succeed David Moyes as West Ham manager, with the Scot set to leave the London Stadium when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Despite overseeing three successive European campaigns and delivering the Europa Conference League trophy last season, Moyes has continued to face fierce pressure from sections of the West Ham fanbase.
He claimed to have been offered a new contract earlier this season but said he would hold off on making a final decision regarding his future until the end of the campaign.
West Ham sit ninth in the Premier League table after being thrashed 5-0 by Chelsea on Sunday, with their hopes of European qualification all but over following a drop-off since the turn of the year.
Several coaches have been suggested as contenders to replace Moyes, with Sporting CP's Ruben Amorim apologising to his current club after holding talks with the Hammers hierarchy in London last month.
On Monday, however, widespread reports claimed West Ham had reached an agreement in principle with Lopetegui, who left his last job with Wolves on the eve of the Premier League season.
Lopetegui saved Wolves from relegation last term but left the club just three days before the start of 2023-24, having grown frustrated with a lack of transfer activity at Molineux.
He previously led Sevilla to three straight fourth-placed finishes in LaLiga between 2019 and 2022, also overseeing their 3-2 victory over Inter in the 2019-20 Europa League final.
Lopetegui – who has also managed Porto, Spain and Real Madrid – had also been linked with Bayern Munich and Milan, though fan protests derailed his chances of taking charge of the Rossoneri.
Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa: Villans' top-four hopes stutter after late Pedro header
Aston Villa missed the chance to close in on a Champions League place after they were beaten 1-0 at Brighton.
Joao Pedro’s late header settled Sunday's contest at the Amex Stadium, the striker nodding in three minutes from time after Robin Olsen saved his initial penalty.
With fifth-placed Tottenham travelling to Liverpool later on Sunday, Villa could have taken a huge step towards sealing a place in Europe's top club competition with victory.
However, Unai Emery’s side remain fourth and seven points above Spurs, who have two games in hand, while Brighton climb to 11th.
The Seagulls carried the greater threat during a first half of few opportunities, with Simon Adingra stinging Olsen’s palms from distance.
Villa, who lost Morgan Rogers to injury midway through the half, also had Olsen to thank twice in first-half stoppage time. First, he kept out Adingra’s tame volley from a Pedro cross before also thwarting Pascal Gross from close range.
The hosts continued to look the more likely to break the deadlock after the interval. Olsen denied Pedro, while Julio Enciso fired narrowly over from distance.
Brighton thought they had taken the lead inside the final quarter when Gross turned in Igor’s cross from inside the six-yard box, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review adjudged Gross to be offside.
The visitors also had the ball in the net at the other end, though the offside flag denied John McGinn, who tucked away after the ball ricocheted kindly for him in the six-yard box.
However, it was Brighton who got the breakthrough in the 87th minute. Olsen guessed correctly to keep out Pedro’s penalty after Ezri Konsa tripped Adingra, but the Sweden international was helpless as the striker headed home the rebound to give Brighton victory.
Pedro hits the 20 mark
Brighton arrived in this contest off the back of successive defeats, and looking to avoid three on the spin for the first time since March 2022.
The Seagulls had also lost each of their previous five Premier League meetings with Villa, who could have secured their Champions League qualification with a win and a Spurs loss at Liverpool.
Gross almost broke the deadlock on his 200th Premier League start for Brighton – his strike ruled out following a VAR review – becoming only the second player to reach that figure after Lewis Dunk.
However, Pedro turned out to be the match winner as he became the first player to score 20 goals in all competitions in a single season for the Seagulls since Glenn Murray in 2016/17 (23).
Toothless Villa stumble
Villa – who were stunned by Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League on Thursday – were unable to capitalise on their opportunity to potentially secure their top-four place following an uncharacteristically quiet outing in front of goal.
Ollie Watkins had scored six goals in his last four appearances against Brighton – his highest tally against a single opponent – and had been directly involved in eight goals in his last five Premier League away games (scoring six and assisting two).
However, the England striker was unable to build on that momentum in a game where Villa registered just two shots on goal.
That was their lowest tally in a Premier League match since May 2016 against Newcastle United (also two), while they only registered fewer on record against Manchester United in August 2005 (one).
They should still have enough to secure a top-four place, but Emery’s team need to get over their hump.
IPL: Jadeja stars as CSK move into playoff places
Chennai Super Kings moved into the Indian Premier League playoff places after beating Punjab Kings by 28 runs in Dharamshala.
The reigning champions avenged their seven-wicket defeat by the Kings in Chennai four days earlier to climb to third place in the table with three games remaining.
After a slow start, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell's partnership brought 57 runs and settled CSK into their stride. Although MS Dhoni went for a duck, Ravindra Jadeja's late surge of 43 from 26 balls saw them close at 167-9.
Tushar Deshpande claimed Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over to stem the Kings' early momentum, while Jadeja (3-20) also took a quickfire double of Sam Curran and Ashutosh Sharma in the 13th over as the hosts finished well short of their target at 139-9.
Data debrief
In getting back to winning ways, CSK ended their five-game losing streak against the Kings, stretching back to 2021.
Despite going for a duck, Dhoni managed to make amends in the field. When he caught out Jitesh Sharma, he became the first player in IPL history to take 150 catches.
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