Manchester City can create a new piece of Premier League history this season that will leave Mikel Arteta with sleepless nights
As Anthony Taylor blew his full time whistle with the sun fading behind the Colin Bell Stand, Arsenal’s Premier League title race looked to be crumbling. All the talk before kick off was how Manchester City beating the Gunners for a second time this season was inevitable.
That weight of expectation is a difficult burden to carry. While Mikel Arteta’s side have floundered when given the chance to run away with the title, City have taken it in their stride. Arsenal played better on Sunday than they did in defeat at Wembley, but that was still not good enough.
City only looked rocked when Gianluigi Donnarumma misjudged the situation to gift Kai Havertz an equaliser. After the break, they were the ones who came out the blocks better. While Eberechi Eze was denied by the post and Havertz was thwarted by Donnarumma, the result came as no surprise.
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Pep Guardiola’s side have timed their chase to perfection. Win on Wednesday night at Burnley and the Blues will return to the top of the Premier League. Arsenal will regain the lead if they avoid defeat to Newcastle on Saturday while City are across London playing Southampton in the FA Cup.
But with a game in hand still to come against a Crystal Palace side whose focus is on the Conference League, City have every reason to be confident of winning their 11th top tier title and their ninth in the Premier League era. Were the Blues to complete the astonishing comeback, they will have done it by spending the vast majority of this season off the top.
So far, the Blues have led the Premier League for just two per cent of the season. When they won the division in 2013/14, they were ahead for just six per cent of the campaign but on average teams spend 56 per cent of the season leading the way. Arsenal have so far been leading the table for 84 per cent of the campaign.
These figures will haunt Mikel Arteta and his supporters between now and the end of May if City claim the title. Less than two weeks ago, City sat nine points behind Arsenal.
Now, they are on the verge of overtaking them and winning the league in a manner that would taint Arteta’s legacy irreparably. If Arsenal were to mess this up, it is hard to see how this group of players can ever recover.
If City do not win it from here, yes, it would be disappointing. However, this is a squad transitioning and the narrative will be one of praise having still managed to claw back the title race when it seemed like Arsenal had made it a one-horse race.
All the pressure is now on the Gunners and this adds another reason for their club to worry. When the Gunners take to the field on Saturday, the tension will be palpable.
Every mistake will lead to groans, every minute without a goal will see the title slip further out of their reach. For City, the feel-good factor is back and they can enter this final stretch excited by the possibility of making yet more history.
There is no substitute for experience and City are using it fully to their advantage.





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