Arsenal have been allowed to dream and the impact is a nervous run-in as it looks like a two horse race for the PL title

Hearts will be broken come May when the league winner will be crowned, if the Championship has not been won by any side before the final games of the season because City want to flex superiority, and Arsenal want to have a taste of the feelings of being champion.

Pep Guardiola’s side have never been too far from winning the Premier League title aside the Spaniard’s first season and they are close yet again, but Arsenal have been allowed to continue to dream for too long.

With Liverpool not in the race this season amidst their struggles, it should have been Manchester City, who should be miles ahead of chasers but Mikel Arteta’s side have proven to not just be partakers but contenders as well.

But it is not surprising, because that has been the hallmark of Arsenal this season, bar some games where they’ve been let down by poor finishings or being victims of poor officiating.

Arsenal reached 100 wins under Mikel Arteta in sensational fashion in their 167th game under the Spaniard. Fast or slow, well, the current status is what will matter more for Arsenal faithfuls around the world.

It took time before they get going under the former Manchester City assistant manager given the crop of players he met at the club and the time taken for the project to take shape.

The process had received a lot of criticism until at some stage in the last season that many began to see the brighter picture in what the manager is building, even as they failed to make Champions League qualification.

In all their 27 Premier League games so far, only against Leeds United in Elland Road and at Everton in the first leg had they been dominated and deserved to lose. The rest, they’ve been superior to their opponents.

Even against Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s side had over 60 per cent of the possession but City were able to seal a win, which in the end look convincing because of Arsenal’s poor finishings.

Think of Erling Haaland on the end of those two headers spurned by Eddie Nketiah amongst other chances created in the game. But this is a team still young in a process, you have to admit, not by any chance did you picture them here at the start of the season.

Despite their scintillating start to the season, a better percentage of fans never believe in this team, not even a good percentage of the club’s own fans. Almost all were thinking it won’t last but will soon fade away.

After winning their first five league games to the season and then went on to lose to Manchester United at Old Trafford, many thought, oh, it’s the same old Arsenal, and then felt that satisfying urge of being proven right.

However, moving forward, they stood still where many expected them to crumble, they were able to turn doubters into believers, that time, not even in competing for the league title but for a top four finish, which has eluded them since the 2017/18 season.

They went on to beat Tottenham Hotspur in a one way traffic match at the Emirates and followed it up with their first league win over Liverpool since 2019/20 season, those were the games many thought would bring them down to earth but they completely played their way to winning them.

It’s 27 games into the season and they are still here, five points clear of second, having beaten every team in the league so far except Southampton and Manchester City, two fixtures whose return legs are still to come.

They’ve beaten Manchester United for revenge at the Emirates Stadium in one of their best performances of the season. Done the double over Tottenham Hotspur since 2013/14 and produced some breathtaking moments before getting here.

Late winners against Fulham at the Emirates, Manchester United at the Emirates, Aston Villa at the Villa Park and Bournemouth at the Emirates, while they also fought back to beat West Ham United at the Emirates.

So far, Mikel Arteta’s minions have already scored more goals than they did in the entirety of last season and from here, they can begin to set new standards for themselves.

It is sure as day that they will be back in the Champions League next season and a couple of games more should confirm their status but to win the league, the bigger tasks lie ahead, though, to credits for what they have done so far.

A win over Manchester City in the Ethiad will be the biggest statement for their title charge and if they are able to maintain their current gap lead till both clash later in April, it will be decisive to determine their fate come May.

3-0 winners over Fulham in Craven Cottage, a stadium where the host had only lost three times before entertaining the Gunners, winning six out of 13, that is no easy ground to win for visiting teams this season but they have done so emphatically.

At the end of the first half, the points were already secured as winter signing, Leandro Trossard assisted all three goals, and Gabriel, Martinelli and Ødegaard all reaping the rewards of the Belgian’s brilliance.

That was a performance that ooze class but it is not surprising, because since the start of the season in August, the hunger in this team has shown, and the mentality of winners added in the summer has speared to everyone.

They know the target and know what they have to do to achieve it. Their main rival for it is a Manchester City side that knows all about winning. But Arsenal can also benefit from the traits they’ve acquired from the Ethiad.

The manager himself, Mikel Arteta, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko were winners with City and all being leaders at Arsenal can help keep their heads until the end of the season.

Will Arsenal be able to go all the way ? Much will be dependent on their trip to both Ethiad and Anfield but albeit they will be disappointed if the season ends without them being Champion, their vast improvement will not be forgotten, and in the future, everyone will look to them as contenders.

After waiting almost 19 years without a league success, nonetheless how it ends, Arsenal will be disappointed if they don’t win the league.

That is the thinking Arteta wants everyone to convey whenever they take to the pitch to try again. And that is the Arsenal you had witnessed since the start of the season, in the win over Fulham and the one you will see until the end of the season.

They’ve become a force again, and it will be interesting to see how they finish the season, yet holding a lot of promise at this stage.

Author : Kehinde Hassan Afolabi