Arsenal have just saved themselves from an embarrassing home defeat against the bottom of the Premier League. Photo: Reuters/Hannah Mckay
For the first time this season, a stunning, breathtaking title race filled with more twists and turns than a double helix is not in Arsenal's hands. If Manchester City win the last eight games, they will be champions. It may seem like an absurdly intimidating proposition given the bloat and downfall for both protagonists, but it doesn't go beyond Team City's guts and stamina when it comes to these butt duels. Don't forget that in 2019 they won the last 14 matches in a row, beating Liverpool by a point.
As the curtain fell on a marvelous evening at the Emirates, Arsenal's reaction did not convey the triumph of the players who scored twice in the final minutes to save a point against Southampton. It was an expression of weariness and resignation as they caught a glimpse of a sky-blue pantechcon hurtling towards them in the rearview mirror. The serious contenders for the title, hardly needing to be reminded, did not lose at the end of April to opponents resigning at the bottom of the table, 51 points behind.
Arsenal is still credible title material. The determination with which they continued this search together, somehow resisting the ruthlessness of the City machine, provided an object lesson in giving the brilliant young manager time to develop the project. But the pure crazy energy of it all takes its toll. Some games were simply too hot, too dangerous for Arsenal's own good. Take a 4-2 win over Aston Villa after a 2-0 loss, or Reiss Nelson's miracle kick to send Bournemouth to their deaths. Both were cathartic feats in their own right, but both left the energy bank dangerously depleted for the crucial last stretch.
This is a pattern that can often be seen in other sports. Ronnie O'Sullivan claims he can't win the World Snooker Championship if he doesn't beat his first opponents with ease. Andy Murray wins two memorable five-set matches in Melbourne but then finds he has nothing more to give. Arsenal seem to be fast approaching the same moment. They've been entertaining everyone royally for eight months now, but they're already smoking. And now, with the fuel gauge firmly in the red zone, they must head to Etihad for the most grueling test of all.
The omens are unfavorable. Just two months ago, Arsenal handily beat City in north London and since then the momentum has shifted ominously in favor of the defending champions. Pep Guardiola had just set up a 4-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich, feared Champions League opponents but made himself look ordinary thanks to the incomparable Erling Haaland. Mikel Arteta, by contrast, has just watched his players score three goals at home against a Southampton side facing relegation. What's in store for us Wednesday night is undoubtedly the best game of the season, but it doesn't look like a fair fight at this level.
Appropriate protections in particular seem inadequate. Arsenal without William Saliba can look insecure, vulnerable, even immature. And yet City, who received a rocket from Guardiola in January, is as irresistible in the back as they have been at any other moment in the Spaniard's seven years in office. John Stones, Rubén Diaz and Manuel Akanji have improved a lot from last year's versions of themselves when, according to Guardiola, City calmed down, perhaps assuming that Arsenal would stumble.
It took longer than anyone could have imagined. to arrive, but the Arsenal are indeed balancing now, staggering to the finish line as clumsily as any drunkard struggling to catch the last Tube train from Holloway Road. This, frankly, is not a champion pedigree. The great serial winners know what it means to time them. Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson have certainly done it and Guardiola's City have perfected the art of channeling true fortitude to get past Liverpool again in 2022, somehow rallying from two goals to defeating » Aston Villa on the last day.
City showed that these are the periods that separate champions from mere contenders. Arsenal, unfortunately, withers when it matters most. If losing two out of two games ahead this month wasn't an urgent enough warning, their chaotic draw against Southampton has just confirmed one egregious truth: City, battle-hardened and hungry for a fifth title in six years, are ready to eat them alive. . .
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