Manchester City officially lead the Premier League with five games to play following this morning’s 1-0 win over Burnley, ending Arsenal’s 200-day stint on top.
Arsenal held a nine-point lead (six if discounting City’s game in hand) as recently as April 10 but have stood stagnant in recent weeks, while City have proven the coming force with nothing to lose.
That dynamic was consolidated by Sunday’s classic six-pointer, the season turning – for now – on City’s 2-1 win at The Etihad. While some feel that spells season over for the Gunners, the BBC’s Phil McNulty feels there’s still plenty to say that turn won’t be final, particularly give Arsenal’s highly-competitive showing.
‘I was at Manchester City [on Sunday] and the phrase everybody kept mentioning was ‘fine margins’, and that’s what it was. A really tight game,’ McNulty told Box2Box.
‘I thought Arsenal played very well. I thought they could easily have got a draw, but then, right at the end, there was that big chance for Kai Havertz which really should have at least hit the target. The reaction of Mikel Arteta said it all: threw himself to the floor, almost struggled to get back up again, and within seconds the game was over.
‘Haaland took that one big chance. That was the difference. It literally was the difference between the two, because it was a really tight-fought game, full of tension.’
For much of the season City have been unable to shake the sense they are not a vintage Pep Guardiola side. The squad turnover in the second half of last season as they ceded their four-year hold on the League to Liverpool undeniably saw players and performances, on occasion, of a lesser standard than they’d become accustomed.
All the while Arsenal stormed along in all competitions, the ‘quadruple’ mentioned among the boldest section of their fanbase. Slowly that confidence has eroded, by an FA Cup exit and League Cup final loss – to City, of course – and then shockingly to Bournemouth, 2-1 in the League on April 11, to leave the door ajar.
Through that opening have barrelled City, apparently having possessed the ruthlessness of seasons gone all along. In step with history, those margins have closed up right when it matters.
‘I fancy City now, which I haven’t for a long while. The momentum is with them. But one note of caution about them: I don’t think they’re quite the team that they were two or three seasons ago, when they’d string 13-14 games together, right at the end of the season, to overtake those Liverpool, Arsenal sides,’ said McNulty.
‘They basically had to win that game on Sunday, and the celebrations at the end were almost suitable for a title win. But I don’t think it’s as cut and dried as some people seem to be suggesting.’
All of this suddenly leaves Arsenal with plenty to do to overcome the foe that has been the difference between a golden era, and their actual reality of not winning a trophy since 2019/20. No Gunners fan needs reminding they are staring at the prospect of a fourth-consecutive second-placed finish, and what would be a third to a Guardiola side.
‘I actually thought Arsenal were good [on Sunday]. The defeat against Bournemouth would suggest that was a failure of their nerve, and people were saying ‘they’re bottling it again and City will overrun them.’
‘They’ve been criticised in the past for not showing up when the pressure is really on, but I thought they did at City, it was just one of those tight games at the end of the title between the two best teams in the country.
‘But there’s not doubt they’ll be feeling it now, Arsenal, because they’ve not won the League for 22 years, and there’s the possibility they could finish second for the fourth season in succession. There’s no doubt in my mind one or two old demons might just start to rear their ugly heads, again.’