Arsenal’s hopes of pushing Manchester City all the way faded away on Sunday with a 3 – 0 loss to Brighton.
City enjoyed a routine 3 – 0 win over Everton earlier in the day, and the result appeared to affect Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s team had two good wins over Newcastle and Chelsea in their pockets prior to this game. However, the chances for City to slip up were growing fewer and fewer.
Read: Real Madrid 1 – 1 Manchester City – Titans Trade Blows
Fighting just to stay close to them proved too much for Arsenal who slipped to an eventually comprehensive defeat.
The Gunners have won many games this season by scoring early, or at least scoring first. If they were going to beat Brighton on Sunday, it should have been in the first half.
Despite some sloppiness, Arsenal created multiple good opportunities to score but lacked the final action. They ended the first half in a flurry but couldn’t find the breakthrough and when Julio Enciso put Brighton ahead on 51 minutes, something in this Arsenal team gave way.
Arsenal have actually scored soon after conceding a remarkable number of times this season.
They’ve also come back to win or draw in stoppage time in multiple games which fostered belief that the title was possible. The problem is they’ve probably used up their quota of magic football moments for the season.
Without Saliba and now Zinchenko, the two players who most enable them to control games and suffocate opponents, one more comeback was one too many.
Read: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg Hits Out At ‘Instability’ Of Spurs
Arsenal didn’t have another fight left in them. Brighton, who are a very good team, had a very good rest of the second half left in them and punished Arsenal.
Goals from Undav and Estupinan punctuated the feeling of optimism being drained from a deflated Emirates.
Manchester City can now win the title with one more win, and play Chelsea at home on Sunday.
