In what was billed as the biggest Premier League game in years, Arsenal’s defeat on Sunday against title rivals Manchester City could prove to be a fatal blow to their hopes of ending an agonising 22-year wait for football glory.
Arsenal appeared to have one hand on the English Premier League trophy for months, but City are now just three points behind them, with momentum and a game in hand when they face Burnley on Wednesday.
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A win for Pep Guardiola’s men will see them replace his once-protege Mikel Arteta’s side at the top of the table.
In a frenetic first half at the Etihad Stadium, Rayan Cherki opened the scoring for City before a mistake by Gianluigi Donnarumma was seized upon by Arsenal’s Kai Havertz to bring his side level.
The equaliser, which came out of nothing, got the Arsenal fans believing that it might be their day, and their season.
In the second half, Erling Haaland’s relentless pursuit of a winner in the crucial fixture paid off with a second-half goal.
On the other side of the pitch, Havertz missed with a late header that could have brought yet another plot twist to this Premier League season’s saga.
It prompted City fans to point towards a banner that read: “Panic on the streets of London”.
Advantage, Manchester City
Once the full-time whistle was blown, pundits agreed that City’s triumph could be the decisive act in the title race.
“I’ve said all along whoever wins that game will win the league,” former City player Micah Richards said on Sky Sports, where he found fellow expert Gary Neville in agreement.
“City have got a massive advantage now,” the former Manchester United and England right-back chimed in.
However, Arsenal manager Arteta was defiant after the game and insisted that the trophy is still the Gunners’ to lose.
“It’s in our hands and there for the taking”, he said. Realistically, though, he now needs Guardiola’s team to slip up.
Arsenal began the season all guns blazing and lost just three of their first 49 games in all competitions.
A month ago, the North London club’s fans were dreaming of a historic “quadruple” of trophies.
A defeat to City in the final of the English League Cup, on March 22, seriously wounded Arsenal, as the 2-0 loss wasn’t just a bad result, but a tame performance. Within a week, another trophy had disappeared, this time in an FA Cup quarterfinal defeat to second-tier Southampton.
Earlier this month, sports statistics service Opta gave Arsenal a greater than 97 percent chance of becoming champions, when victory over Bournemouth would have taken them 12 points clear at the top.
Now they are barely clinging on to the top spot.
There is time for at least one more momentum swing, but Arteta is starting to look like a wilting frontrunner, with the vastly more experienced Guardiola on his shoulder ready to sprint past in the final straight. Guardiola has led City to six Premier League titles in his decade in charge.
Arteta came through Barcelona’s youth ranks at the end of the 1990s while Guardiola was a senior pro, then spent three years as fellow Spaniard Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City before taking the helm at Arsenal in 2019. The “apprentice versus the master” narrative has added to the drama of the title tussle.
Arsenal’s manager has been playing down the pressure his team is feeling, but his attempts to convey calm aren’t always convincing.
In his six and a half years at Arsenal, he has built steadily, and three consecutive runners-up positions in the Premier League show remarkable consistency. The foundations are solid, but the finishing touches have been amiss.
Will Arsenal ‘bottle it’ again?
As the Premier League draws to a close, Arsenal face Newcastle, Fulham and Burnley at home, with away games at West Ham and Crystal Palace on the final day (May 24).
City visit Everton and Bournemouth as well as Burnley. At home, they take on Brentford, Crystal Palace (date to be arranged) and Aston Villa in their final game.
Arsenal’s run-in looks slightly favourable, with all five games against teams in the bottom half of the table. But Bournemouth, who beat the Gunners in London on April 11, have exposed the league leaders to the perils of expecting three points at lower-ranked clubs.
Second place would be a nightmare for Arteta, his players, and the fans. Arsenal have become the prime target for fans of other clubs, and the slight they face most is that they are “bottlers”.
It’s an accusation that brings indignation from Arsenal supporters, who feel the club deserves more respect for their achievements, including being the last remaining Premier League club in the UEFA Champions League for the past two seasons.
A vocal element of the fanbase have developed a huge following on social media platforms, but this content puts a brighter spotlight on the club. The post-match rants of the fans often get more attention than the football itself.
Arsenal’s football has attracted criticism for a lack of flair. The team’s success is built on a high-quality defence and set-piece goals.
There is an irony to the flak they receive. The Arsenal team who won the league title under George Graham in 1989 and 1991, shortly before the introduction of the Premier League, were notorious for their focus on defence. Hence, the famous chant “1-0 to the Arsenal”. That team didn’t need to care about their reputation as they celebrated winning trophies, and the same could apply for the current Arsenal team if they find a late surge.
The club’s last Premier League title in 2004 was an entirely different scenario, as Arsene Wenger’s team went through the season unbeaten and became known as “The Invincibles”. For much of this season, there was an invincibility about Arteta’s team. It’s been brutally dismantled in recent weeks.
In the coming weeks, Arsenal can still win the two prestigious trophies they crave.
For it to happen, they need to lift themselves for a Champions League semifinal over two legs against a gritty Atletico Madrid side.
If Arsenal end up empty-handed, it will leave Arteta with just an FA Cup and two Community Shields to show for a reign that promised so much.
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