The ghost of seasons past returned to haunt Arsenal on Sunday, as a 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium handed Manchester City a commanding advantage in the Premier League title race.
Mikel Arteta’s side remain top of the table for now, but that could change as early as Wednesday. City, who have a game in hand, travel to already-doomed Burnley, where a win would knock Arsenal off the summit for the first time in 2026.
The defeat extends a painful pattern for long-suffering Arsenal fans. Their side has finished second in the league for each of the past three seasons—twice hunted down by Pep Guardiola’s relentless City, and last year overtaken by a resurgent Liverpool. Now, history appears to be repeating itself. Just as Arsenal have run out of steam, City have hit their devastating late-season stride.
Before last month’s League Cup loss to City, Arsenal had lost only three times in 49 matches across all competitions this season. But since then, their form has collapsed. They have won just one of their last six games and are on a run of four consecutive domestic defeats, raising the spectre of another trophyless campaign.
For Guardiola, the timing is impeccable. He has now won 31 of his 39 Premier League games played in April, underscoring his teams’ ability to peak when the pressure is greatest. The Catalan manager is eyeing a seventh league title in his decade at Manchester City.
Erling Haaland’s towering header was among the goals at the Etihad, as City produced a clinical performance to turn the title race on its head. Arsenal, meanwhile, are left to wonder why their momentum always seems to falter at the final hurdle.
With the finish line in sight, City once again smell blood. And for Arsenal, the haunting feeling that this chance, too, may be slipping away is becoming all too familiar.
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