After displaying strength of character against champions Manchester City in breath-taking 2-2 at the Etihad on Sunday, Arsenal fans are confident that the London club have what it takes to win the English Premier League title, with just five games into the 2024/25 season.
Last season, the Gunners were coasting to their first EPL title in 20 years but fell short by just two points behind Manchester City, who won the title with 91 points.
Mikel Arteta’s men have once again started the season like a house on fire and were close to claiming a famous victory away to the champions but had their hearts broken by John Stones’ last-minute equaliser.
Etihad has served as a slaughtering slab for Manchester City over the years, with visitors securing a point thereat far and between. But Arsenal were a whisker close to securing a win on the hallowed turf on Sunday despite playing more than 50 minutes of the encounter with a man less.
The second half saw City have 28 shots on goal as against one by Arsenal, while the home side had 88 per cent of the ball, for which Bernardo Silva had a dig at the Gunners.
“The difference? Maybe Liverpool have already won the Premier League; Arsenal haven’t. That Liverpool have won the Champions League, Arsenal haven’t,” the midfielder said.”Liverpool always faced us face to face to try to win the games, so from this perspective, the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool. So yes, maybe a different rivalry.”
Meanwhile, former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh and some Arsenal fans believe this could be the year that the Gunners will win the title.
“Arsenal totally deserved victory over Manchester City. This doubtful red card saved Manchester . City some thrashing from a well-organised Arsenal side, in my opinion,” Oliseh wrote on X.“Compact, direct playing with a world-class goalkeeper. Arsenal could be champions this year!”
Responding to Silva, Trey said, “Bernardo Silva is calling Arsenal p****. (Erling) Haaland telling Arteta to be humble and fighting Gabriel Jesus. Beautiful, we have a proper title rivalry again in England.”
AFC added, “Man City are celebrating a late equaliser against 10-man Arsenal at the Etihad, while the Gunners are heartbroken. This shows how far this team has come. I am proud to witness this progress.”Another Arsenal fan, KenyanGooner, tweeted, “They are used to bullying Manchester United and Chelsea. They thought they could bully Arsenal. In their dreams. Emirates will burn in the next leg. Hopefully, we have (Martin) Ødegaard and (Mikel) Merino back. We will suffocate them and give them their annual defeat.”Yusuff Azeez added, “Man City never expected what they got playing against 10-man at the Etihad. The frustration level was high. They thought they would ride over Arsenal. I bet if Pep wasn’t Arteta’s boss, he’d get some hard stuff from him as well. Arsenal are back at the top; Man City take note.”
“It is all about Arsenal and Manchester City now, proud of how far Arsenal have gone,” Sunny said.
Mo Arsenal concluded, “Klopp left the league after failing to beat Mikel Arteta four times in a row in the league. That’s the second season in a row Pep’s Manchester City haven’t beaten Mikel Arteta at the Etihad. Soon, Pep will pack his bags and run.”
Two seasons ago, Arsenal fans in Nigeria adopted the slogan ‘This is our year’ as their battle cry, heading into the 202/23 season, but failed to end their long wait for an EPL title. Could this finally be the year that they get to lay their hands on the coveted trophy after 20
years?
