After the Spuds got beaten yet again at lowly Southampton, I wrote how crucial it was for Arsenal to beat Man United. Not only did we get the three points but Chelsea also dropped two unexpected points against Wolves, and suddenly the race for the Top Four has taken on a completely different complexion.
Arsenal are back in the Top Four right now, relegating United to Fifth, and we are now just one point behind Tottenham, who simply can’t win a game – and have the daunting task of a trip to Anfield coming up next. But we also have Chelsea in the mix. If they win their game in hand (against Brighton) they will be equal on points with us as well! How close is that!
AS Granit Xhaka said after scoring the opening goal against Man United yesterday, we are “back in the game” at last. “We are happy to win and it was very important if you see the results from Tottenham and Chelsea,” Granit told Arsenal.com. “It was important to take the three points and now we’re back in the game.
“We had to learn from our mistakes that we made against Manchester United in the FA Cup. We played well but they were always dangerous on the counter-attack and today with five at the back we were more compact. It was important to press them as well.
“I think these three points show us the way. This game was a six pointer and we don’t have a lot of games left, but we need the points to be in the top four.”
There is still a long way to go but there are many games left for our rivals to take points off each other, while we have no more matches against our top six rivals. It is all in our hands now, and as Xhaka says – WE ARE BACK IN THE GAME!
Sam P