Mikel Arteta bemoaned Arsenal's mistakes handing Manchester City a significant psychological blow in the Premier League title race.
Pep Guardiola's champions battled to a 3-1 victory at Emirates Stadium to move ahead of Arsenal, who have played a game fewer, on goal difference at the top-flight summit.
Kevin De Bruyne punished Takehiro Tomiyasu's errant pass to open the scoring before second-half goals for Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland ensured Bukayo Saka's first-half equalising penalty would prove irrelevant.
Manager Arteta, who coached City under Guardiola before taking the Arsenal role, acknowledged the Gunners were punished for their mistake-laden display in north London.
"We lost it, it was an incredible battle against two teams and we had them - but we gave them the goals," Arteta, who has lost eight of nine games against Guardiola in all competitions, told Amazon Prime Video.
"We had them in big moments, but in the big moments they were better than us. We were really imprecise, we put ourselves in trouble, in certain areas of the pitch we overplayed and we got punished.
"We had three big chances but didn't put them away and that was the difference. To beat them we have to be over our level because they are such a good team.
"The atmosphere and performance was really good, if you take away the way we gave them three goals."
Despite defeat, Arteta says the performance only served to further his belief Arsenal can claim their first title since the 2003-04 'Invincibles' campaign.
"I have more belief than I had before the game, with the performance and the level the team put in against City," he added to BBC Sport.
"They wanted to play a different game than the one we played and with the crowd we have we can do it.
"They still have it [the belief], I can sense it. They feel they can do it."
City had just 36 per cent possession in the victory, the lowest figure on the ball in a league game for a team managed by Guardiola in his top-flight managerial career.
While dominating possession, Arsenal's only shot on target in the game came from Saka's penalty after Eddie Nketiah was felled by Ederson.
Captain Martin Odegaard was far from his usual lofty standards and the Norway international lamented his side's performance at either end of the pitch.
"The game is decided in the boxes and we were not sharp enough in front of the goal and in our own [box] as well," Odegaard told Amazon Prime Video.
"They were better [in the boxes]. Apart from that, we played a good game, did many good things and had many good periods, but we have to be better in the boxes.
"It is football. Sometimes chances go in, sometimes not. But that is where we need to improve and be more clinical. And [we must] defend our box. That is not just about one player, but the whole team.
"As we have said all season, work hard and take it game by game. It is the same now.
"It is one game we have lost here and now we look to the next one.
"It was an unbelievable atmosphere and we are so grateful to everyone who came here and made the game special. We will work hard to give them something to make them happy about."
After going three straight Premier League games without a win, Arsenal travel to play Aston Villa on Saturday.
Vancouver Whitecaps v Los Angeles FC: Sartini hoping to benefit from missing international players
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini believes the international break will benefit his side ahead of welcoming Los Angeles FC to BC Place this weekend.
The hosts will be without top scorer Ryan Gauld along with Ali Ahmed, Sam Adekugbe, Andres Cubas, Fafa Picault and Pedro Vite as they aim to break into the top seven of the Western Conference and avoid playing in the first round of the playoffs.
However, Sartini believes that this presents an opportunity for his fringe players to step up against one of the better sides in the division, having seen his side fall to back-to-back defeats since clinching their place in the post-season.
“It is very important to win,” Sartini said. “Unfortunately, we did not do well in the last couple of games so now this game has become one where we can get back into the top seven and avoid the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s important to get back to where we have been for the last 30 plus games. We need to reset and good. I think it’s also a good think, I might sound crazy, that we have the international break.
“We have a lot of players that will need to step up and need to be there, so they come perhaps a little fresher and without the bad memories of the last couple of games.”
LAFC, meanwhile, come into the encounter on the back of four consecutive wins in all competitions, including their US Open Cup final triumph.
The Black and Gold know a victory will seal second place in the Western Conference standings after securing a 3-0 away win over Sporting Kansas City, though they too will be without three first-team players for the trip to Vancouver.
“All in all, we’re happy,” head coach Steve Cherundolo said after their last victory. “They were important points for us. A good performance.”
“For us to keep getting these results is huge,” said defender Aaron Long.
“To go as far as we did in Leagues Cup and to go all the way to the end in the Open Cup, and still be fighting for first place in the league is really tough to do.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Brian White
In the absence of top scorer Gauld, who is on international duty with Scotland, White will carry Vancouver’s goal threat for the visit of LAFC.
The American has played more games against this weekend’s opponents than any other team he has faced in the MLS (13), winning four of those (D3 L6), while scoring three times.
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz
Bogusz has 20 goal involvements (14 goals, six assists) in 30 MLS appearances this term, netting a goal against Vancouver in LAFC’s 3-0 win earlier this season.
The Pole, however, has won just one of his three games against Vancouver (D1 L1), and he will be hoping to get his record into positive numbers this time around.
MATCH PREDICTION: LAFC WIN
The hosts are currently on 58 points with two matches left to play this term. They are trying to reach the 60-point mark for the third time in the last six seasons (2019, 2022) while no other MLS team has done so more than once in that time.
Vancouver have lost only two of their last nine regular-season meetings with LAFC (W4 D3), though one of those defeats was a 3-0 loss against the Black and Gold earlier this campaign.
The Whitecaps come into the game on the back of consecutive defeats for the first time since June. They have not lost three straight matches in all competitions since the start of the 2023 season.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 29.6%
Draw – 24.8%
LAFC – 45.6%
Wales will benefit from Iceland collapse in long term, says Bellamy
Wales will benefit from the experience of Friday's Nations League draw with Iceland despite squandering a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2, believes boss Craig Bellamy.
Bellamy's reign began with a positive return of four points from Nations League matches against Turkiye and Montenegro, but they suffered their first major setback under him on Friday.
Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson scored to give Wales a 2-0 half-time lead at Laugardalsvollur, only for Logi Tomasson's strike and Danny Ward's own goal to earn Iceland a point.
Despite Iceland registering the most shots they have ever recorded in a Nations League match (20), Bellamy was not too disheartened by the result.
"It was good, I enjoyed it. It was what I expected to be honest, I said going out second half that this would be tough," Bellamy told S4C.
"We'll benefit so much from that 45 minutes, it's so good for us. In the long run this will be beneficial.
"Obviously to be 2-0 up and draw is disappointing, but it was a pleasing performance. It was about me learning about the players and them learning from us.
"It's never good to concede, I don't like it, we'll look at it again. I felt momentum played a big part. It's about us understanding when to take the sting out the game, which will come.
"Overall, I'm pleased with the performance, we've had two yellows which will mean a change on Monday, but it's predictable due to different styles of refereeing. It is what it is."
Despite a frustrating second half, Bellamy is the first manager in Wales' history to go unbeaten through his first three competitive games at the helm, with one win and two draws.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Germany: Undav double secures second Nations League win
Deniz Undav netted twice in the space of six first-half minutes as Germany held on for a 2-1 win against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their Nations League match at the Stadion Bilino Polje.
The Stuttgart striker found the back of the net in the 30th and 36th minutes to pull Julian Nagelsmann’s side into a two-goal lead, but captain Edin Dzeko’s goal for the hosts after restart set up a tense ending to the game which the Germans navigated.
Florian Wirtz ran onto a lofted ball from Robert Andrich before laying it back for Undav to open the scoring at the half-hour mark in the League A Group 3 fixture, but Bosnia-Herzegovina were unfortunate not to equalise in an instant.
Ermedin Demirovic broke free on a counter just four minutes later and beat German goalkeeper Alexander Nubel with his shot only to see it brush the top of the crossbar on its way out.
It proved to be a costly miss as Undav turned in a low cross from Maximilian Mittelstadt a couple of minutes later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Undav thought he had his hat-trick in the 58th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside before Dzeko halved the deficit for Sergej Barbarez’s side heading home a Benjamin Tahriovic corner with 20 minutes left to play.
But the hosts failed to find an equaliser as group toppers Germany preserved their unbeaten start and went two points clear of the Netherlands with their second win. Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, sit bottom with only one point from three matches.
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