Paul Pogba accepts blame for Manchester United loss

Paul Pogba acknowledged his mistake at Old Trafford (Paul Ellis/PA)

Paul Pogba admitted his “stupid mistake” led to Manchester United’s latest setback as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer marked his 100th game in charge of the club with another home defeat.

And the United manager was in no mood to disagree with his midfield star as United's wait for a first home league victory, since a win over Bournemouth at the start of July, continues..

"We know it's a poor performance. Myself, I cannot give a foul away like this,” said Pogba. "I thought I would touch the ball but I didn't and cost us the goal with the penalty.

"I felt like I touched him a bit. Maybe I was a bit out of breath, it made me do this stupid mistake. I will learn from that, I'm not the best defensively in the box, I can work on that.” 

Solskjaer was in no mood to disagree with his midfielder’s assessment of his error.

“It was a soft penalty to give away,” said Solskjaer.

“These things happen, he didn’t touch him a lot but it was enough to give away a pen. Paul held his hands up, he knows he should have, and could have, done better in that instance.

“But that was the difference between the teams today because it always looked like a 0-0 to me.” 

United’s misery was in stark contrast to the mood in the Arsenal camp after the Gunners won away at one of the “Big Six” for the first time in 30 attempts.

“Obviously there were many factors in this for us,” said manager Mikel Arteta. “But we have to change that dramatically and very quickly if we want to be fighting the top teams. You could see that from the first minute to minute 96, with the aggression we showed and I’m really pleased for them and the fans as well because it is 14 years since we won here and that is a long time to wait.”