Arsenal will not surrender in title race: Ramsdale

Aaron Ramsdale insists Arsenal will not surrender in the Premier League title race despite their calamitous 4-1 loss at Manchester City. The Gunners have ceded control of the title race to City after allowing Pep Guardiola’s side to move within two points on Wednesday.
With two games in hand, City will lift a fifth title in six seasons if they win six of their last seven games. April has proved a painful month for Arsenal, with three successive draws preceding the chastening defeat at the Etihad Stadium. But Arsenal keeper Ramsdale is not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“We’re going to be disappointed now but we haven’t played nine months of Premier League football, and played the way we wanted to play, to give up with five games to go,” he said. “If anything is going to happen in football, it is this league it is going to happen in. It might not do but stranger things have happened in the Premier League. You see how tight it is at the bottom, you see how tight it is at the top, so we are going to be pushing every game – with five games left we need to win five games – and we will see how that ends at the end of the season. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”
Arsenal were blown away by Kevin De Bruyne’s brace and goals from John Stones and Erling Haaland, condemning them to a third defeat against City this season. Ramsdale conceded it was frustrating to make such a sloppy start, allowing City to dictate the tempo for the rest of the evening.
“Disappointment is the key word,” he said. “When you give arguably one of the best teams in the world at the minute a bit of a leg-up in the game and are 2-0 down at half-time, it is a tough task to overcome. We know we are better than that but also this is where we want to be and the team we want to be like and be competing with.”

City won’t rest after crucial win over Arsenal: Akanji
Manuel Akanji has warned Manchester City not to rest on their laurels after the Premier League champions thrashed Arsenal to seize control of the title race. Defender Akanji knows there are still twists and turns in store during his team’s final seven league games, starting at Fulham on Sunday.
“It was a big game and a massive win for us. It helps us a lot but there’s still so many games to play,” he said.
“Seven games – still 21 points to grab so we can’t relax now on this win. We’ve got to go on Sunday and win the next game against Fulham.”
City have won 12 of their last 13 games in all competitions, including seven successive league victories. City’s third victory over Arsenal in just over three months underlined the gulf in quality between the teams. Akanji feels City’s experience of success in the latter half of the campaign has come to the fore.
The Switzerland international, who signed from Borussia Dortmund in September, said: “The whole team played really good and had a really good team performance over 90 minutes. We were strong in the duels, we were good with the ball and that was different to the game at the Emirates. Then we used our chances and we played well defensively and I think that’s the key to these wins, (as is) the experience that the guys in the locker room have. They won three championships in the last four and the experience that they bring into the team, and for me also as a player to come into the team, helps.”