Nigeria, Jan. 27 -- Leading the table and doing well in domestic cup competitions as well as in Europe, the loss at the Emirates brought back recurring questions about whether Mikel Arteta's team could at last shed its image as an underperformer at the critical moment.

It was Arsenal's first home loss of the season and their most defensively fragile performance in almost three years.



Vieira noted a lack of risk-taking and intensity, pointing out that quality alone would not guarantee the long-awaited league title. Having finished second in each of the past three campaigns, Arsenal are still looking for their first major trophy since Arteta's inaugural year.



Particularly with opponents losing points and Arsenal still firmly holdi...