Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny concedes they wilted under the pressure at Newcastle United.
The Gunners blew a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 with the Toon.
Koscielny said: "I think we should have stayed calm seeing as we were 4-0 up and there was no urgency.
"Then perhaps everyone started getting scared, then the first goal game, then they came one after another, we felt like that if we played 10 minutes longer we would have lost.
"It's the first time in my career that I've been 4-0 up and been pulled back to 4-4. I think in the first half if we'd been 5-0 or 6-0 up it would have been normal. Then there's the incident (with Diaby).
"There's a foul the referee doesn't blow up for, Abou reacted badly - although I understand it because he's been injured so much due to tackles like that.
"I don't condone his reaction, but I understand it. If Barton had broken his leg everyone would have said it's a red card, luckily he didn't break it, it twisted a lot. You always have to be in control of your actions and maybe he wasn't and maybe it penalised us.
"But 4-0 up with 10 men we should win as well. I think we just stopped playing, quite simply, then it was hard to control the end of the game.
"Even though at 4-0 up with 10 players we owe it to ourselves to win the game. Then it was all-out assault (from Newcastle) and we totally lost control of the game. We couldn't concentrate. Luckily Manchester United didn't win."
