Piers Morgan renews criticism of "pathetic" Arteta after latest Arsenal loss

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been dubbed "pathetic" by Piers Morgan in the wake of the Gunners surprise home defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Seagulls ran out 2-1 victors in North London after taking advantage of what was a lacklustre showing from their hosts, with Arsenal second-best effectively from the first whistle. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring inside the first half hour with a calmly taken finish from around 12 yards, before Enock Mwepu doubled their advantage mid-way through the second-half.

There was a late surge of panicked pressure from Arsenal, who notched a consolation goal via Martin Odegaard's deflected effort from long-range. It counted for nothing as Graham Potter's side held on to secure three points and put a huge dent in the Gunners hopes for a top-four finish.

Morgan was clearly seething with what he witnessed at the Emirates and took to social media to voice his feelings towards the Gunners boss. The journalist uploaded a shot of Arteta alongside a caption that simply read: "Pathetic."

Arteta's post-match comments summarising the defeat made for interesting reading, as the Spaniard cited atmosphere as an issue on Saturday afternoon. "We created a cold atmosphere, an atmosphere we weren't comfortable with. When we tried to change it, it was too late," he explained.

"The first half was really poor, the reaction that we wanted to show, we didn't make it happen on the pitch. We were sloppy on the ball." Arsenal's attacking woes were on display for all to see, as Alexandre Lacazette made very little impact on proceedings.

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The Frenchman has just four league goals to his name all season and Morgan took aim with the fact that Arteta sanctioned the departure of former talisman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - who is now running riot in the colours of FC Barcelona.

"Reminder that Arteta gave away Aubameyang for FREE to Barcelona where he is banging in goals for fun - and kept Lacazette who hasn't scored in open play since December," Morgan wrote. "Looks a worse & worse decision with every game that passes. Yet still Arsenal fans support it."

10 of Arsenal's outfield players against Brighton managed a shot on goal, but Lacazette was not one of them in what is arguably the most damning statistic of his season so far. The Gunners are going to need far more from him if they are to stand any chance of snatching fourth spot off of Spurs late on.

Antonio Conte's side are three points ahead of the Gunners after they ran riot away at Aston Villa, though Arsenal still have a game in hand over their North London neighbours. In terms of their respective run-ins, Arteta's men undeniably have the harder games to conclude the season.