Nine games that have probably cost Arsenal the Premiership

This seaon has been the best chance for Arsenal to win the Premier League Title for a couple of years.  Behind Man United and Chelsea, Arsenal and consistently been the team to have chased and fallen near the end to the third spot.  This is an achievement in itself when so many have predicted the downfall of Arsenal and their removal from title contendership. 

This year has seen Chelsea have a commanding start then falter into mid-season mediocrity, Man City still not haivng the threat needed to win the title and teams like Tottenham or Liverpool coming close to being up there but not close enough.

Add to that a Manchester United team that have been average at best by their standards and you see how this year has been Arsenal’s best chance at claiming the title.  Ignore the fact that Man United have inexplicablly managed to churn out results and stay up there, this should of been Arsenal’s season.  They have not only played some fantastic football which has seen young players step up and shine (like Walcott, Djourou, Nasri, Szczesny and Wilshere) but they have also managed to grind out wins away against tough teams where normally they would have dropped points.

However, even though at this point Arsenal are only three points behind Man U with a game in hand, I still think the Red Devil’s will somehow win another title.  I believe nine games are at fault.  They are:

Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

The teams first slip of the season.  They played well once again and should of had more goals but at 1 nil up and with the allocated stoppage time played they failed to simply whack the ball out and finish the game which led to Bent scoring a tap in after a scramble in the area.  Yes the whistle should of been blown, but once again Arsenal’s inissitence on passing the ball out of trouble cost them

Arsenal 2-3 West Brom

If you want o win a league title you can’t be drawing games like this, yet alone losing them.  To West Brom’s credit they played well and were tactically astute to stopping Arsenal, but the gunners were poor more than anything.  Poor goalkeeping and defensive errors allowed West Brom to score goals and it wasn’t until 3 nil down when they Arsenal started to play well and got two goals courtesy from Nasri.  However these two werent enough and Arsenal threw away three points.

Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle

After a good run of results which included a good win away against 10 man Man City, the North London outfit once again slipped at home losing to a Andy Carroll header.  They didn’t play well, the goal was soft and they once more threw away points.

Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham

Probably the most painful North London derby for Arsenal fans in a long time, particulary as the were all over Spurs in the first half and went into the dressing room with a 2 goal lead. 

It doesn’t matter whether your playing a strong rival team or not, it was not good enough to let spurs back in.  by their own admission, Tottenham didn’t even perform that well.  Even though they conceeded a silly and soft penalty for the equaliser, Arsenal still showed mental weakness in lettig this result happen.  They completely played into Spurs hands by being too predictable in the final third and their defence frailty from set pieces was once more punished.

Man Utd 1-0 Arsenal

Like so many teams, the Gunners went to Old Trafford playing like they had already lost.  The didn’t have enough boldness and the game played into United’s hand when they got a lucky (in my opinion) deflected goal courtesy of Park.  They came close with a block on the line from a Chamakh shot, but if you want to win the title, you need to be more attacking and more confident against your biggest rival.

Wigan 2-2 Arsenal

Aftera string of good away performances this season, Arsenal were defensively poor against Wigan to allow them back into the game.  Squillaci looked uncomfortable at the back allowing both goals through and Arsenal were unlucky not to get a penalty.  Once more Arsenal were unlucky where in the same fixture, United were lucky.  Rooney got away with a definite red early on in the game and stayed on the pitch.

Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal

Probably the most annoying for an Arsenal fan.  After dominating the first half and being 4 nil up, Newcastle came back to draw 4-4.  Arsenal once more showed how frail they can be at times, but this result was also down to poor referring and luck.  Diaby was rightly sent off for a stupid lash out at Joey Barton yet Kevin Davies got away with the same offence later on.  Phil Dowd gave two very soft penalties, the second in particular was never ever a penalty, unless of course falling over on your own account is now a foul for you.  The fourth goal was one of those once in a lifetime wonder goals for Tiote.

Van Persie scored at the end but it was narrowly given offside.  It could of been the bit of luck they needed that afternoon as he looked level.

It was awful.  Everytime Arsenal seemed to get back in the game a decision went against them.  Also Newcastle decided to be good against Arsenal when no doubt they will weakly captitulate against Man U.  A great game for a neutral, but an awful slip for Arsenal.

Arsenal 0-0 Man City

Not for the first time this season, Man City plaed a big team and looked happy just to play out a boring draw.  Arsenal were unlucky not to score after some good chances but it was another 2 points gone.  In the same result against United, City attacked them more, letting Man U in to score.

Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland

Okay Arsenal didn’t play well, but they fully deserved all three points.  The two key moments were Andrey Arshavin’s perfectly timed run wrongly being given offside and titus Bramble pushing Arshavin right as he shot not being given as penalty.  It was and the referre cost Arsenal another 2 points.

So in summary perhaps I’m moaning,  but I feel frustrated more than anything.  This season Arsenal have been better than United, but havent had the luck they have.  They have also had some inexcusable results which could well cost them the title.

Now with a difficult run which includes Man United at home, Stoke away and most importantly a must win trip to White Hart Lane it looks like Arsenal might once again be the almost team.  And this should of been their year.

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Tags: Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Premier League, Sunderland, Title, Tottenham Hotspur, West Brom, Wigan

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