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Arsenal secure rare win at Old Trafford to take title to the final day

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Manchester United 0 Arsenal 1    Premier League    Sunday 12th May 2024  4.30pm     The points were the main thing for Arsenal, and given that they historically struggle to win at Old Trafford, nothing could be taken for granted in the Gunners’ penultimate game of the season. On paper, given the relative strength of the two teams, you’d have liked to see a scoreline akin to Manchester City’s at Fulham on Saturday lunchtime. If only football was that simple.  An unchanged Arsenal line-up did enough to win, in that they produced better efforts that Manchester United, whose finishing was woeful, but they didn’t play that well. As one friend commented,  “ That match was painful. We played like a team on the Wednesday before a cup final. Too cautious but a win is a win. Agonising as it was!”   That they kept a clean sheet was partially due to defensive resilience and organisation, but also the woeful quality of United’s attack certainly played its part. 14 attempts on goal, only two on targ
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Gunners handle run-in pressure v Bournemouth to keep title challenge alive

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Arsenal 3 Bournemouth 0    Premier League    Saturday 4th May 2024  12.30pm     After the disappointment of the home defeat to Villa, sandwiched by the Champions League quarter final legs v Bayern, all Arsenal were left with to finish their season were six Premier League matches. With Manchester City’s record of closing out campaigns from a winning position, the prevailing wisdom was that Arteta’s players would need to win every game for the remainder of the season, and this was the fourth out of the the six.    The manager stuck with the same eleven that had delivered wins against Chelsea and Spurs, and people were conscious of how good a run of results Bournemouth have had in 2024, so were not to be taken lightly. Last season it took the last minute wonder goal by Reiss Nelson to secure three points in the corresponding fixture (and keep Arsenal’s title hopes very much alive back then). Same consequence of the win yesterday, but it was a far more comfortable affair.  Arsenal dominate
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Rampant Arsenal get over the line after Spurs comeback

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  Tottenham 2 Arsenal 3    Premier League    Sunday 28th April 2024  2pm     It all looked so comfortable at half-time. Three goals up at Spurs and the home crowd silent. With Arsenal needing to win every one of their last six Premier League matches after the home loss to Villa, this was the third in the series, and arguably the most challenging. Of course, form goes out of the window in derby matches, as Everton v Liverpool proved in midweek, but Gooners attending at what started as a very grey Sunday afternoon at the Lane had good reason for optimism.   It was justified in a first half that saw them take what looked like an unassailable lead, as Arteta started the same eleven that faced Chelsea the Tuesday before. Spurs hadn’t played for two weeks, whilst their visitors had played four times. There was no sign of fatigue from Arsenal though, and they had to draw on all their reserves in the concluding minutes.   Their finishing was excellent, although the opening goal was courtesy of
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Partey adds extra dimension as Arsenal deliver statement win

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Arsenal 5 Chelsea 0    Premier League    Tuesday 23rd April 2024  8pm    Before this game, I had a feeling it might prove an opportunity to enhance Arsenal’s goal difference, and in the event that Manchester City draw one of their six remaining matches, we could end up with a situation in which three teams finish on 89 points, in which case such wins as the Gunners registered last night against Chelsea could prove highly significant.   Arsenal’s history has been shaped by goal difference, and before that goal average. The 1971 title was decided (fortunately) on the latter – otherwise Leeds United would have been champions. In 1989, beating Liverpool at Anfield 2-0 in the final game meant Arsenal’s goal difference was superior – simply because they had scored more goals than Liverpool, the actual difference being identical. The club have history for narrow triumphs, and who is to say we won’t see a similar situation less than four weeks from now? The bookies for one, who still have Manc
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Arsenal back on track with much-needed win at Wolves

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Wolves 0 Arsenal 2    Premier League    Saturday 20th April 2024  7.30 pm       Looking at Manchester City’s fixture list, to have any chance of winning the title after the defeat at home to Villa, you really felt that Arsenal would have to win every one of their remaining six Premier League matches, and in spite of Wolves’ very weakened team, the Gunners’ own recent disappointments meant this was never going to be a walk in the park.   Wolves made life difficult for their visitors in the first half, as they struggled to create easy chances, with the opposition players proving adept at foiling Arsenal’s attacking moves when they came within range of the goal. There were potshots from the edge of the box, but nothing that you felt was a ‘must score’ moment. In fact, until Trossard’s goal as the interval beckoned, the best attempt to score was a Wolves break that exposed Kiwior and saw a Raya reaction save push the ball onto the post. With Tomiyasu injured, Kiwior got a start ahead of Zi
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Gunners run out of steam in Munich

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Bayern Munich 1 Arsenal 0    Champions League Quarter Final, 2nd leg   Wednesday 17th April 2024  9pm (local time)     If you’d said at the start of the season that Arsenal would make the last eight of the Champions League on their return to the competition, and remembering the last time they managed that was 14 years ago, you’d have thought, fair enough. As it is, Arsenal join a quartet featuring Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City. So there is no disgrace in the exit to Bayern Munich, as these are exalted levels which the club have not really had any exposure to for longer than anyone could have foreseen in the days when Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Andrey Arshavin were still pulling on the red and white shirt.    However, some of the excellent football played since the turn of the year raised hopes that this could be a remarkable return to the top table, and with the final at Wembley, a place Arteta has never experienced defeat, people were understandably dreaming.
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Emery does it again as Gunners blow chance to return to top spot

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  Arsenal 0 Aston Villa 2    Premier League    Sunday 14th April 2024  4.30 pm     Ah well, the afternoon was going so well. Liverpool’s shock defeat at home to Palace opened the way for Arsenal to open a gap on one of their two rivals for the title. It ended with Manchester City benefitting the most on a day when all they had to do was sit in front of the TV and enjoy what transpired.   Villa have now done the double over Arsenal in the league this season, although their home win was less deserving  and featured some far more controversial decisions from the referee. Yesterday, it was a fairly even game – the Gunners were on top in the first half, Villa had the better of things after the break.   Ultimately, it was a case of the home side not making the most of their early dominance. There were a good number of chances to score before Villa were allowed back into the game, the most clearcut being Trossard’s point blank shot that was foiled by Martinez’ foot.    Unai Emery’s side made
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