Arsenal is limping into 2024 after a damaging stretch that culminated in what coach Mikel Arteta called “the worst performance of the season” on the final day of the year. A toothless Arsenal side lost 1-2 at Fulham on Sunday despite taking the lead in the fifth minute, a second straight defeat that means the team stayed in fourth place in the Premier League, when a victory would have lifted it into first.

“It’s a really sad day because today we didn’t deserve to win the game,” Arteta said. “That was the worst performance of the season.”