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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-02-13 09:07:17+00:00.
Manager Mikel Arteta had asked his players to be absolutely ruthless at both ends of the pitch but in a couple of critical moments at Brentford that eluded them, leaving them with one point not three, and a lead of four over second-placed City with 12 games to go, to mull over.
It wasn’t like Arteta didn’t know what was coming.
“You have to pray,” he said of the Kayode long throw. “The chaos that is in and around that ball is very, very difficult to defend. We said, ‘You want to win here? You’re going to have to defend the box with your life.’”
With all the grappling and jostling, as the ball popped around and in, Arsenal found out how it feels to be ‘Arsenaled’.
When Jurrien Timber broke away, he provided a simple pass to Gabriel Martinelli, who delayed his shot, allowing Caoimhin Kelleher to stretch out an arm for a fine save. Arteta rued one that got away. Should Martinelli have scored? “You have to,” his manager said, “if you want to win here.”
Of course, Arsenal were desperate for the three points. But one thing they could ill afford to do was get totally suckered. Their defenders dug deep into their reserves of effort and instinct to ensure a thorny game did not inflict serious wounds.
High, chaotic balls were flung over the top to be chased, or punted into a congested area to be contested. This was a serious test of their resolve.
Who knows whether this will turn out to be a valuable point? It’s only February. Arteta is making a strong show of maintaining his composure while the noise outside rattles the windows. What if Liverpool had held on to beat City at Anfield over the weekend? What if they had a nine-point lead now rather than four?
“I understand, but that’s an if, if, if,” Arteta responded. “And if we would have lost in Newcastle (when two late goals brought a 2-1 away win), we were eight points behind Liverpool in October. There are a lot of ifs for 10 months in this competition. You can only focus on what you have to do and try to do that in the best possible way.”