Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba has admitted that his "stupid mistake" was the reason for Manchester United's 1-0 defeat against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday. United's latest loss saw the club record their worst start to a season at home in 48 years.
Pogba's second-half foul on Arsenal wing-back Hector Bellerin resulted in referee Mike Dean pointing to the penalty spot. Pierre-Emerick Aumbameyang slotted the penalty past David de Gea to seal Arsenal's first win at Old Trafford since September 2006.
This was Manchester United's third defeat at Old Trafford in their first four home league games of the season. They drew the other game and lost 3-1 and 6-1 to Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur respectively prior to Sunday's loss to the Gunners.
Their abysmal start to the season leaves the Red Devils sitting in 15th place on the Premier League table.
Pogba thinks he and his Manchester United teammates need to learn and improve after their poor showing against Arsenal
France international Pogba said that his error was the key factor in United's latest Old Trafford setback.
"I felt like I touched him [Bellerin] a bit, I knew I was in the box, I shouldn't have given a penalty away like that," said Pogba to BBC Match of the Day.
"Maybe I was a bit out of breath, it made me do this stupid mistake. We know it's a poor performance. Myself I cannot give a foul away like this. I thought I would touch the ball but I didn't, it cost us the goal today with the penalty."
Despite his mistake, which was the third penalty the former Juventus man has conceded in Manchester United's last five games at Old Trafford, Pogba said that United's team display must be better. He said:
" Like I say, details. We have to do better, the team, myself, it starts with me, I will learn from that, I'm not the best defensively in the box, I can work on that. We also need to do more with the ball creating chances."
"We didn't expect to be man for man, but after this we can adapt, we have to find a solution but we didn't. That's why we weren't dangerous with the ball. But like I say, the team performance needs to be a lot better."
Pogba has come in for much criticism in recent times for his performances in a Manchester United shirt.
Former Red Devils midfielder Roy Keane slammed Pogba for his inconsistency, and now says that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's position may be under scrutiny thanks to the poor performances of some of his squad members.