This is going to be a very sore one for Arsenal fans.
Once again, many donning the club’s colours will be fearing the worst that they are about to lose out on the Premier League title again.
If Manchester City go on to win the title, then Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa and Liverpool’s loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday will prove to be the turning point.
One of the main reasons Mikel Arteta’s side have been performing so well has been their defensive displays.
Not just from their backline, especially their star centre-back duo William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, but the effort and commitment their forward players show.
Unfortunately, against a very resilient and Champions League-chasing Aston Villa side, all of that fell apart, with Leon Bailey opening the scoring at the Emirates.
Ian Wright feels it was a tale of the substitutes because, whilst one was wheeling away in celebration, another one in Gabriel Martinelli was watching on because he should have been stopping the Villa man from scoring at the far post.
The former Highbury star thinks Martinelli switched off and Arsenal got ‘punished’ for his defensive lapse, as he told Premier League Productions (14/04/24 at 6:40 pm).
The Jamaican star was free as a bird at the far post, with an open goal to aim at after a cross from Lucas Digne, with Martinelli standing on the edge of the penalty area and watching on.
Gabriel Martineli’s error
“This is the goal,” said Wright. “Look at Martinelli. This is what I was thinking. This is where Arsenal have been so good defensively. Everyone has been switched on.
“But, in this instance, Martinelli if you look at him now, that’s his man (Bailey at the far pot) in this situation. He has got to get tighter to him. It’s as simple as that. You give up two opportunities and you take them. People switch off, he knows now and realises that’s his man.
“That’s the difference. That’s the margin. The same thing happened with Bayern Munich. A couple of lapses in concentration and you get punished.”
Arsenal in the Premier League title race
Whatever you can do Liverpool, we can outdo you. That’s seemingly the message Arsenal sent out yesterday.
Even if the players and manager deny it, Arsenal would have known about Liverpool’s dropped points against Selhurst Park.
The fans would have felt it was a huge moment and a massive chance for them to move to the top of the Premier League table.
But they both just opened a door for a Manchester City side that have been here before and are probably going to go on and win the title now.