Arsenal lost 2-1 away at the Etihad Stadium (Image: Getty)
The fears of the Arsenal fanbase are coming true. “Panic on the streets of London,” read the banner in the Manchester City end at full-time. After this, they might just be hearing that “second again, ole ole!” chant again at a lot of Premier League away grounds next season. The Gunners have long been in total control of the title race. They’ve been top of the table since match-week six. Eight days ago, they missed a chance to move 12 points clear of City – albeit having played two games extra – when they lost against Bournemouth.
Now, this coming Wednesday night, City can go top of the table for the first time since the opening weekend. All they need to do is beat a sorry Burnley side who have conceded more goals than anybody else this season. It’s not a certainty, but you’d be a lunatic to back Burnley. And City very firmly have the bit between their teeth after getting the better of the Gunners again, weeks after a one-sided Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
At three other stages of this season, Arsenal have had a seven-point lead over City. They only have themselves to blame if they do not win the league from here. That is now four defeats in their last six games across all competitions. They’ve gone from dreaming of a quadruple to potentially ending trophyless.
Two of those losses were to City, which is a damaging psychological blow at this stage of the season. And the man who must take the blame is Mikel Arteta. He is not solely culpable and his Arsenal team were perhaps worthy of a point at the Etihad. They did not freeze, unlike at Wembley last month. They stood tall.
But against his long-time mentor Pep Guardiola, Arsenal crucially ceded more momentum in this title race, which not so long ago didn’t even look like a real title race. Arteta wanted “no fear, pure fire” against Sporting in the Champions League in midweek. He got a 0-0 draw and just one shot on target. Arsenal only managed two shots on target at City, although they did also hit the woodwork multiple times and Kai Havertz missed a golden late chance.
The debate about Arsenal’s tactics is nothing new. But clearly the lack of consistent attacking flair, despite some of the players they have up top, is coming back to haunt the north Londoners at the worst possible time. In those last six matches, they’ve scored a total of four goals and have failed to score twice in the same game. They are crumbling at the crunch point, as they have done before.
Their top Premier League goalscorer is Viktor Gyokeres on 12. After that, they do not have a single player on more than six. For context, even Manchester United’s defensive midfielder Casemiro is on eight league goals. Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade has been labelled a £69million flop. He has seven in the Premier League.
Man City have taken charge of the Premier League title race (Image: Getty)
Arsenal’s title dreams may go up in smoke yet again (Image: Getty)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright put it best this week. He said: “Watching the games, it hurts. There’s a pain that’s hurting me. It’s killing me that I can’t feel it. I’ve put so much, invested so much into the manager, the team, the players, everything.
“And they’ve got to a place again, and you are just seeing it falling away, you’re seeing players making mistakes. When you are at the top of the league and you have to beat teams, I’m not seeing anything.”
Arteta has still done a great job overall, when you remember where Arsenal were when he took over. But this is a fourth season in a row where he might fail to deliver a major trophy despite the Gunners being serious contenders. There really is no excuses for failing to win the league. If anything, they should already have one hand on the trophy right now.
And with their style of football, which is dulling even club legends like Wright, Arteta is in trouble. There will be fewer and fewer fans in his corner if this season ends without the silverware. They can stomach this conservative football if it leads to success. But yet again Arsenal are threatening to end the season disappointed.
Is he actually likely to be sacked this summer? Probably not. But he will be subjected to much mockery and if Arsenal do not win the league, and they have been making it much harder for themselves in the past few weeks, Arteta will not be able to escape the ‘nearly man’ tag. He will lose a lot of credit with the Arsenal fanbase.
Could the Champions League offer salvation for the Spaniard? Maybe, but judging on their recent performances, have this team – playing with this style of football – got what it takes to win a final against Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain? It doesn’t seem so.
Arteta collapsed to his knees when Havertz missed a late header. Had the German scored, and Arsenal drawn, they would remain in control of their own fate. But now, they are in real danger – and failing to win the title this season would leave a major stain on the manager’s reputation. One he might never wash off. He’s running out of time to prove he can get over the line.
