According to former England footballers Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy, the race for the league title is effectively over.
Mikel Arteta may not have imagined that his team, which had been performing brilliantly, would suddenly lose their way and suffer a defeat against West Ham United. In a crucial match to close the gap with the leaders, Arteta was left frustrated by the lackluster football displayed by his players, including Odegaard and Trossard.
Two days earlier, Liverpool had dropped points, giving Arsenal a chance to reduce the gap and apply pressure on the leaders. The opponent was relatively weaker, a team positioned towards the bottom of the table. Moreover, the match was at home, with a full stadium cheering the team on. Yet, Arsenal lost their direction and failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Although they kept control of the ball and attempted to attack, they couldn’t test the opponent seriously.
Before halftime, Jarrod Bowen scored the goal that gave West Ham the lead. Arsenal had an entire half to recover, but despite having possession of the ball for over 65% of the match and taking 20 shots, they failed to make any real impact. Only two of their shots were on target.
In the 73rd minute, midfielder Miles Lewis-Skelly was shown a red card, reducing Arsenal to 10 men and making their comeback even more difficult. In the end, they couldn’t even spark any hope of turning the game around.
After the match, Arteta didn’t hide his disappointment.
“I am really, really frustrated with the performance and the result. The quality of football we needed to win the Premier League was nowhere near what we showed today. I am mostly responsible. So I am very, very angry.”
This was Arsenal’s first defeat at home this season after 15 matches. It was a significant blow to their title hopes, especially after being runners-up in the past two seasons.
With 53 points from 26 matches (15 wins and 8 draws), Arsenal are second, 8 points behind leaders Liverpool. If Liverpool wins against Manchester City on Sunday, they will extend their lead to 11 points.
Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard echoed the coach’s frustration in his post-match comments on BBC. He admitted that their attacking play lacked effectiveness.
“This is a big blow. Today’s performance wasn’t good enough. We’ll need to watch the match again and analyze it, but it wasn’t good enough.”
On BBC’s “Match of the Day,” Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy made it clear that the league title race is over. According to them, Liverpool’s current lead is unassailable.
Murphy added, “I don’t see Arsenal winning all their remaining matches. Even if Liverpool has a minor setback, it won’t matter. They still manage to collect points even when they don’t play well.”
