Following Sunday’s 2-0 loss to the Gunners in the North London derby, Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte feels that only Manchester City and Arsenal are capable of challenging for the Premier League title.
Spurs paid the price for a sluggish start against their fierce rivals, who deservedly led by two goals at halftime thanks to a mistake by Hugo Lloris and an exquisite Martin Odegaard goal.
Aaron Ramsdale produced a number of critical stops to keep the hosts at bay and send the Gunners eight points clear at the top of the standings despite Tottenham’s post-halftime improvement.
Conte’s side, meanwhile, remain in fifth place with 33 points from 19 games – five points behind Manchester United having played a game more.
What Did Antonio Conte Say About Tottenham’s Loss To Arsenal?
Speaking to the media after the game, Conte insisted that he was “not disappointed” with his side’s performance against one of the teams that he feels are involved in a two-horse title race.
“About the performance, I’m not disappointed. I’m not disappointed because we knew that the game could be really difficult because Arsenal is a really, really strong team and also tonight showed that they deserve to stay top of the league, they deserve to be title contenders,” Conte said in his post-game press conference.
Mikel Arteta’s @Arsenal are loving life 📈#TOTARS pic.twitter.com/cx8JLYaKPR
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 15, 2023
“In my opinion Arsenal and City are the only two teams that can fight for the Premier League this season. At the same time I’m a bit disappointed for the way we lost.
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“But we created chances to try to score. At the same time we didn’t lose our mind, our head.
“At this point of the game the risk is to lose your head and concede other goals and to finish with a really, really bad defeat.
“Instead I think we have to be disappointed for the bad result but at the same time I saw a big effort from my players.”
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