Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal "lack the consistency" to be classed a top side after they slumped to a disastrous 2-0 defeat against an impressive Aston Villa. The Gunners slipped nine points adrift of joint leaders Chelsea and Liverpool thanks to two second-half strikes: the first an own goal from Gael Clichy and the second from the lively Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Both strikes were controversial - Arsenal were angry that Villa played on with Bacary Sagna lying injured for the first, while the hosts could have been awarded a free-kick in the build-up to the second - but the north Londoners could hardly claim that Villa were not worthy winners on Saturday.
Ashley Young missed a 19th-minute penalty, awarded after he had been fouled by Theo Walcott, while Gareth Barry also spurned a glorious chance before the interval. Another alarmingly flimsy performance from Arsenal means they have now suffered four league defeats this season - one more than they chalked up during the whole of last term - and the Emirates, once an impenetrable citadel, now appears to have all the sturdiness of a sandcastle.
Their title credentials are in shreds and Wenger's chief concern now appears to centre on whether they can cling on to their place in the Champions League qualification places.
"Top level performances are about consistency and at the moment we are not consistent enough," Wenger said. "I don't believe you can talk about championships now but at the moment we lack consistency.
"The performance was not good but it was the kind of game we could have won 1-0. We could have been out of it by half-time but we weren't and it became the kind of game we could have won. Instead, we were punished for making a mistake.
"Everyone in the dressing room is very down because it's a massive disappointment for us all. We were unlucky because Sagna was injured for the first goal and there was a blatant foul on the edge of the box in the build-up to the second, but Villa deserved to win."
Wenger's woes were compounded by Sagna's injury - he has sustained damage to his ankle, with the manager predicting he will be out "for a few weeks" - and a fifth booking of the season for Cesc Fabregas, which will rule him out of next weekend's trip to Manchester City. The French manager declined to endorse Villa's credentials to steal Arsenal's place in the top four, pointing that they had been surprisingly beaten at home by Middlesbrough a week earlier, but if any side has the capacity to gatecrash the Premier League's established elite, Martin O'Neill's could be it. This is a team boasting pace, skill and youthful verve in abundance and it would be a brave punter to bet against Champions League football returning to Birmingham for the first time since 1983 next season.