After leading Manchester City by 8 points and the Premier League for 248 days, Arsenal fell short. After Arsenal lost to Nottingham Forest away from home, Manchester City won the championship three times ahead of schedule, and Arsenal extended the Premier League crown-free spell to 19 years.
Saka lost his point and became a turning point.
The last time Arsenal won the Premier League title was in 2003-04. Undoubtedly, this season is an excellent opportunity for Arsenal to break the title-free spell. For various reasons, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have all been in trouble this season, while Newcastle is still in its infancy, which makes the Premier League title a contest between Manchester City and Arsenal.
After losing to Manchester City at home in the first leg, Arsenal once lost only one game in 20 rounds. After the victory over Crystal Palace, Arsenal is eight points ahead of Manchester City, which means that as long as the gunners themselves don’t have problems, they can win the Premier League title.
However, starting from the away game against Liverpool on April 9, Arsenal began to "pay tuition" for young people. With a two-goal lead, Arsenal were chased by Liverpool. In the battle against West Ham, Arsenal was tied by the opponent with a two-goal lead, and Saca missed the penalty and it became a key turning point for Arsenal to win the championship.
After the 3-3 draw with Southampton, Arsenal lost the championship initiative by losing 1-4 to Manchester City in the final. In Nottingham Forest World War I, Odegard made a mistake in returning the ball, which allowed Nottingham Forest to counterattack and score the goal. This key goal allowed Manchester City to win the championship three times ahead of schedule.
The price of youth
In the last eight rounds of Premier League, Arsenal only scored 2 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. In the first 19 Premier League games, Arsenal lost a total of 7 points, but in the last 18 Premier League games, they lost 23 points. On the contrary, Manchester City has won 11 consecutive victories. In the sprint stage of the season, the huge psychological pressure made Arsenal suffer, and they finally paid a heavy price.
Not surprisingly, in the sprint last season, Arsenal also lost in the competition for Champions League tickets, when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle in succession.
For two consecutive seasons, the chain fell at a critical moment, partly because the team was too young. After all, the average age of Arsenal’s squad is just over 25, making it the second youngest team in the Premier League.
Injury crisis+controversial penalty
Compared with Manchester City, the thickness of Arsenal’s lineup is obviously a big difference, which makes it difficult for them to find a replacement when they encounter injuries. Jesus, Zincenko, Thomas, Niels, Ernane and Smith-Rowe were all absent for a long time.
Saliba was reimbursed in advance of the season after being injured on March 16th, and his absence made Arsenal’s defence more fragile. In his absence, Arsenal conceded twice as many goals.
At the same time, the controversial penalty is also one of the important factors for Arsenal to miss the championship. Against Manchester United in September, Martineli’s goal was cancelled, and the referee company later publicly admitted that it was also a wrong judgment.
In brentford, Ivan Toni’s goal was offside controversial. In Southampton, Jesus was knocked down in the penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty. In addition, against Newcastle in January, Arsenal also missed a penalty.
The gunman’s future is still promising.
Although it failed to win the championship this season, it scored 18 points more than last season and won the runner-up in the Premier League. Arsenal has obviously grown and improved. It is worth emphasizing that Arsenal may finally get 84 points, which will be a new high since the 2003-04 season.
Since 2005, Arsenal’s points in a single season have never exceeded 80 points, and only once in the past five years have they exceeded 70 points. However, just like Liverpool, Arsenal also found that they met a Manchester City with higher standards.
It’s really disappointing that we didn’t win the championship, but Arsenal did make great progress, Artta pointed out. "Those who thought we would win the sixth or seventh place now say that we failed to win the second place, and that’s the answer!"