Arsenal’s chaotic win at Tottenham raises one question about title run-in

It was a joke that Mikel Arteta probably wouldn’t have made had this game gone a different way. The Arsenal manager was asked about his extreme faith in his players, as Tottenham threw cross after cross into the box in pursuit of an unlikely draw. “Definitely… in the last few minutes I was doubting a bit!”

Arteta wouldn’t have been human if that wasn’t the case. Everyone knew that Arsenal’s title challenge came down to those last few minutes. They got through it, as Arteta made sure to point out that his squad “give me no reason” to doubt.

Many might of course point to how last season ended, and the manager himself pointed to the difference in perception from how these games have gone to everything that happened in last season’s run-in.

“When you win, it’s always the case. Last season, we didn’t, because we went to West Ham and we missed a penalty… at the end, the judgement is going to be based on that outcome. If Spurs got the goal in the last minute to make it 3-3, then we wouldn’t have been ready. The margins are so small.”

And yet there is a significant gap between this season and last; a gap that is a clear indicator of growth and maturity. Arsenal have secured more points in the last three games (nine) than they did in all of last April.

It’s all the more impressive given the nature of those games. Wolves away, Chelsea at home and at Tottenham home were understandably seen as fraught fixtures that could well have undercut Arsenal’s title challenge in the same way. Instead, they’ve come through them all. It was actually surprisingly comfortable… at least until the last 15 minutes against Spurs. They then came through that, too.

It does raise one question about this run-in, that is now so clear in view. Was it actually better to come through this match in the way they did against Spurs, having squandered a 3-0 lead, rather than just easily win it? Arteta obviously wouldn’t have wanted the team or David Raya to endure the error that led to Christian Romero’s goal – “it puts a wrong message in your brain”, as he put it – but having to dig deep like that does bring out something more in a team.

It’s not quite like last season, either, when Arsenal went through too many emotional finishes. This was far more pointed. You could see it in the reaction, Bukayo Saka blowing out his cheeks on TV, the staff embracing, the entire squad running over to the away end.

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“I don’t know. We’re going to make it that the second option is a great one,” Arteta said. “The players can be more convinced. We’ve done it two years in a row here, which is extremely difficult. Last year as well we had to suffer in the second half to win the game. So great. The team has another tool. Something else to grab which is the confidence that when it comes to the biggest stage in the big games you have the ability to win it. So it’s good learning.”

It’s also a good feeling. This can propel a team.

If all of this seems like overly focusing on the psychological, that is because mental toughness is what it’s about at this point of a title race. The cliches are actually true. You really have to just get the job done. This game was a case in point.

Arsenal have generally been lauded for how they control games and keep opposition sides at arm’s length, but Spurs got over both of those qualities here. They made it very uncomfortable. Arsenal dug in. Arsenal essentially beat Spurs because they have made set-pieces such a virtue this season.

Ange Postecoglou’s side deserved credit for how they came back to make it 3-2, but he shouldn’t escape criticism for the manner in which they lost the game. Elements of it, from Ben White’s movement to the way Arsenal went at Spurs, were entirely predictable. Postecoglou had two weeks to prepare for this. Worst of all was the defending from set-pieces.
Postecoglou did raise eyebrows with an answer to a question over whether he had noticed a trend in that area.

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“No because it's understanding where you are as a football team,” he said. “If I thought fixing defensive set-pieces was the answer to us bridging the gap then I'd put all of my time and effort into that. But that's not where we're at.

“For us, it's ... not just set-pieces but a lot of moments in games where we don't sense that you give good opposition the time and the space to do things then they're going to hurt you.

“I think they maybe had four attempts on goal in the first half and [we] conceded three. I don't think it's about one part of it, I think it's a bigger picture than that, but our defensive set-pieces for those two [goals] were very poor. But there's a lot more than that to fix.”

It’s hard not to think it is something relatively easy to work on, though. It has helped Arsenal bridge a gap.

Their own players sometimes joke about being “set-piece FC” but it has made them a much more serious title challenger.

There is now the possibilty that Arsenal and Manchester City both just win out their remaining games, leaving the Gunners short of their title rivals by just one point. That wouldn’t be an indictment on Arsenal. They’ve already taken this further than last season.

They’ve got hope. And rather than it coming from racing into a three-goal lead, much of that hope came from seeing out the match at 3-2.