You have to accept it, admit it and keep going.'Īs Arsenal stumbled with three straight draws last month, they glanced at the rear-view mirror and took their eyes off the road. 'We are still there but there is another one better than you. They do really well,' Guardiola had said in April. 'Our problem is Arsenal was amazing so far.

GUARDIOLA MIND GAMESīut the eight-point gap was an illusion as City always had games in hand while Guardiola played mind games, effusive in his praise of Arsenal and Arteta, his former assistant at City. 'The same people who thought that we were going to finish sixth or seventh in the season are now saying that finishing second would be a failure,' Arteta told Sky Sports. The north London side had raised expectations to such stratospheric levels this season that even a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17 was seen as nothing more than an appetiser before the main course. With an average age of 24, Arsenal also had the youngest team in the league, which made their title hunt alongside the sky-blue City juggernaut even more remarkable. While Arteta and his players dismissed talk of 'bottling' the title race, for their fans there is a crushing sense of what could have been.Īrsenal were eight points clear two months ago and appeared to be heading towards bagging their first league title since Arsene Wenger's 2003-04 'Invincibles'.

Having enjoyed the view from the top for nearly 250 days, Arsenal's title challenge crumbled in the face of a relentless, well-oiled winning machine that had been assembled and perfected over many years by Guardiola. Arsenal's collapse in the Premier League title race showed they lacked the mentality and depth to dethrone Manchester City, but if there is any solace Mikel Arteta can take from the season is that they finally have a team that can be title contenders.Īrsenal's 1-0 loss at Nottingham Forest on Saturday (May 20) brought the two-horse race to a premature end as Pep Guardiola's City were crowned champions with three games to spare, completing part one of a potential treble.

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