MANCHESTER, April 8: Mikel Arteta had just seen his Arsenal team come up painfully short in its Premier League title race with Manchester City and he couldn’t hide his anguish.
“I know we’re not at that level,” a crestfallen Arteta said last May, “but we have to find a way.” Well, Arsenal’s upgraded class of 2024 are finding a way.
They are there again, leading the Premier League with seven games left – just like last season.
And, once again, City is on Arsenal’s shoulder, waiting to pounce.
Will this year be different?
The math is simple: save for an unlikely huge swing in goal difference.
Arsenal can capture the league for the first time since 2004 by winning its last seven games.
In a remarkably tight title race, Arsenal is tied for points with Liverpool but has a superior goal difference of nine over Jurgen Klopp’s team. City is a point back in third.
All three clubs have seven matches remaining, with each of their run-ins sprinkled with what appears to be home bankers and tough road trips.
Arsenal is in the driving seat, though, and is mounting an increasingly convincing case.
Unlike last season, when Arteta’s players stumbled – some say froze – late in the campaign with just two wins in its last nine games as injuries took their toll, they look to be growing in strength this time.
STATISTICS
The numbers suggest Arsenal is ready to take this final step.
Unbeaten in the league in 11 matches in 2024, the team has scored 38 goals and conceded just four goals in that spell – better than anyone else in both aspects.
In the season as a whole, Arsenal has scored a league-high 75 goals and let in a league-low 24 goals.
Arsenal has the most reliable defence in the league, as shown by shutting out City home and away this season.
LESSONS LEARNED
Arteta was accused by many pundits of being too emotional on the sidelines last season and letting that seep into his team in those pressure-filled last few months.
He’s still active on the touchline, for sure, but he is proving to be a calmer figure as the intensity builds. The same can be said of his team.
Arteta appears to have followed the playbook of City manager Pep Guardiola in pacing the campaign much more effectively.
Arsenal controls games better, making them less frenetic.
Arteta has not been afraid to rest players when last season he might have overplayed the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli and saw their late-season displays tail off.
LATE DRAMA
On Thursday, it was Chelsea pulling off a late comeback to stun United.
On Sunday, Mauricio Pochettino’s team was on the wrong end of stoppage-time drama as last-place Sheffield United fought back to earn a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane after Ollie McBurnie’s equalizer in the third minute of added time.
Chelsea twice squandered the lead after opening the scoring through Thiago Silva and going in front again through Noni Madueke.
While Sheffield United looks almost certain to be relegated this season, it showed fight in front of its home fans.
Jayden Bogle leveled the game in the first half before McBurnie’s late effort.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Tottenham moved up to fourth after a 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest to take charge of the race for the last guaranteed Champions League place.
Spurs moved above fifth-place Aston Villa on goal difference and also has a game in hand on its closest rival.
Forest, meanwhile, missed the chance to move further clear of the relegation zone and is above 18th-place Luton on goal difference alone.
An own-goal from Murillo put the hosts ahead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before Chris Wood leveled for Forest in the first half.
But two goals in the space of six minutes from Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro after the break sealed the win for Ange Postecoglou’s team. (PTI)
