A familiar feeling is stirring in the air. One which has been felt in each of Arsenal’s previous three seasons, and contributed to their habit of finishing second.
It’s that when the pressure is truly on, when the margin for error evaporates, the Gunners find a way to shoot themselves in the foot.
The underlying pressure of six years without silverware, and 22 long years since their last league title, weighs heavy. Of course it does.
Still, the pressure-cooker atmosphere at the Emirates is clearly being felt by the players. The boos rang out at full-time, the fans unwilling to reserve their anger at what had unfolded in front of them.
Mikel Arteta had yesterday urged them to bring their ‘lunch and dinner and get to the game early’. Those who followed suit will have likely discarded their dinner in the stands.
The number of unforced errors made by Arsenal was astounding, the most they have arguably committed in a game this season. One followed by the next, and the next. It really was hard to comprehend how a team of this calibre could make such basic mistakes, which were nearly nonexistent earlier in the season.
Martin Zubimendi, usually reliable to keep a cool head, ceded possession on multiple occasions, including passing the ball out of bounds or straight to an opposition player.
Gabriel kicked the ball into a team-mate at the back, William Saliba slipped in one instance which nearly created an opportunity, and Kai Havertz languidly made errant passes.
Then the typically steady David Raya made two errors which typified it all: he first attempted a bizarre outside-of-the-boot pass which deflected off Evanilson’s leg; that could have rebounded into the goal or set the striker up.
Minutes later, he tried a risky pass to Zubimendi, which he just about got away with.
On the errors, instead of defending his players, Arteta was frank. He said: ‘We were far from efficient. The first chance they had to attack the box, it’s a deflection, a bad defending action and it’s a goal.
‘That’s something we have to recover from. The second half you expect a different game. We did a lot of strange things today.’
It was the unravelling of a team crippled by nerves and anxiety, seeping both ways to and from the stands.
The numbers were damning. Arsenal recorded an open-play xG of 0.19 – their second-lowest in a game this season, beating the 0.17 vs Crystal Palace in October 2025.
Make no mistake, the situation the Gunners find themselves in would test the mettle of any side. The pressure is suffocating, the consequences ultimate.
The next week features a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Sporting Lisbon and a crunch, be-all or end-all game with Manchester City at the Etihad next Sunday.
There’s no hiding place. The time to find out whether Arsenal really have the cojones to win a league title is upon us.
ARTETA’S WHITE PROBLEM
When the Arsenal team-sheet was announced an hour before kick-off, the anticipation around the Emirates grew further.
For a squad shorn of Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard, risks had to be taken in selection.
From looking at the sheet, the big gaping areas open to exploit appeared to be the full-back pairing of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ben White.
Lewis-Skelly had only made one league start in the season — against Brighton on December 27 — and White’s lacklustre display in the midweek victory over Sporting Lisbon had been a concern. On that night, it was his right flank the Portuguese side targeted — and that continued here.
Andoni Iraola had moved Eli Junior Kroupi from up front to White’s right flank, almost in retaliation to make hay in a position Arsenal were clearly fallible.
And it worked, White failing to track his man in the build-up to Kroupi’s goal, Adrien Truffert free to cross the ball to the attacker.
The full back has had a torrid time with injury, playing through pain in previous seasons to stay available.
Yet he is off the boil and a liability at present. On a more promising note, Lewis-Skelly showed good signs.
The way he wriggled past players in close proximity and progressed the ball forward reflected the talent he showed in his breakout campaign last season.
Going forward, Cristhian Mosquera as a makeshift right back in place of White could be a shrewd move while Timber recovers.
