Arsenal's win yesterday was as crucial as it gets in some ways, especially in regard to this season's title race, with back-to-back titles the Gunners' main aim right now.
On Saturday, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal comfortably beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates in front of a very happy crowd of Gooners.
The victory means that the men in red and white are level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table (21), which means that if we keep up our current form, we might just pip them if they slip up again.
Life in the Premiership was already starting to look pretty challenging until yesterday, after the men from the blue side of Manchester had won seven out of seven, including an impressive 3-0 win away to Liverpool at the dreaded Anfield not too long ago.
It felt as if the title was slowly being taken out of our hands after having fallen behind by three points following the annoying 3-0 defeat to Brighton away from home , chasing our tails.
If Arsenal had struggled to capitalise on City's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Saturday, we would have missed the chance to draw level with the men currently under legal investigation, but fortunately that wasn't the case.
I think it's fair to say that Arsenal showed great resilience yesterday, again like they did on Wednesday in the Champions League during their 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich away from home . Had we not won yesterday, we would've been pulling our hair out.
The visitors have started the season fairly well in comparison to previous years, being in the top ten, but on paper we should be beating them, which is exactly what we did.
(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
The Everton game marked a special occasion also for Ezri Konsa, who found the back of the net for the first time in an Arsenal shirt since signing from Aston Villa in the summer for £55 million, scoring from a corner after only seven minutes to give us the lead.
It was Gabriel who doubled our advantage to secure the all-conquering win against the Toffees, following a classic header of his on his 200th appearance for the north Londoners.
David Raya also collected his eighth clean sheet this season in all competitions, which isn't bad going considering 12 have been played so far!
Yesterday was more than just a win. It showed Arsenal are really resuming their consistency and responding strongly to their rivals' upsets, making the most of them, which the Gunners of yesteryear might not have.
Arsenal are now hot on the heels of Man City and are ready to overtake them when and if they drop points in the foreseeable future.
The Gunners need to retain their character and poise if they are serious about winning the title again, but with City losing yesterday too, it's certainly helped our chances.
Manchester City are now even more conscious of our positioning in the table, with them being under more pressure than at any stage of the season, on and off the pitch.
COYG!!
Liam Harding
Gooners, could Arsenal's ability to capitalise on Manchester City's dropped points make the difference in this season's title race? Are we showing the consistency needed to retain our Premier League crown?
Join the discussion in the comments below.
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