Arsenal crash and burn, while Man City take control

London — After a weekend in which Arsenal’s quest for the league title was shot down in flames and Manchester City moved into pole position, the contrast in the two squads was highlighted.

Arsenal’s defence has let the side down leaking goals in the past few games, leaving their title ambitions in tatters. At the same time Man City’s goal machine Erling Haaland can have a quiet game, but others such as Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne can step up and bang in the goals.

These and other talking points from the Premier League weekend.

Arsenal’s old failings return to haunt them: Since the glory days at the height of the Arsene Wenger era, successive Arsenal teams have been accused of having a soft centre, a prime example being 2021/22 when they surrendered a Champions League berth to archrivals Tottenham Hotspur after a late-season collapse.

This season felt different as Arsenal, working together with a ferocious team spirit and the zest of youth, looked on the verge of a first league title since 2004.

But some old failings have returned to haunt them with their defence turning into Swiss cheese at the worst possible moment. They have let in 15 goals in their last seven games, conceding three at home to bottom club Southampton, four at Manchester City and three more at home to Brighton on Sunday.

There is much to admire in Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta will know he needs to add some more steel and depth in vital areas for next season when they return to the Champions League and try to put together another title tilt.

Gundogan gives a reminder of City’s depth: While the spotlight has shone on the “striking Viking” Haaland this season, Manchester City’s squad runs far deeper than just the 22-year-old Norwegian, and boasts an enviable number of serial title winners.

Gundogan gave a vivid reminder of that on Sunday, scoring two superb goals and teeing up Haaland for another in Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Everton that left them just a win away from their third consecutive Premier League title.

The 32-year-old German midfielder also netted a brace — and reigned supreme in midfield — a week earlier in City’s win over Leeds. Gundogan already has four Premier League titles, four EFL Cups and an FA Cup to his name.

And then there’s 31-year-old Kevin De Bruyne, who has won 13 club titles over the years, including the Premier League four times and the FA Cup with City.

With Haaland shackled by Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal last Tuesday, it was left to De Bruyne to score City’s equaliser in the 1-1 draw. In the second leg, the goals for a City side brimming with talent could come from any direction.

Big Sam brings belief to Leeds: They may have only managed a 2-2 draw with high-flying Newcastle United, but Sam Allardyce’s Leeds United are showing the kind of self-belief that has been lacking all season as they enter the final stage of their battle for Premier League survival.

Leeds might still be in the bottom three with two games to go, but they looked a completely different proposition in their second league game under Allardyce, pressing with energy and never letting their heads drop, despite conceding two penalties.

“We didn’t get dispirited, even though we made life extremely difficult for ourselves,” Allardyce told BT Sport, and he could have been talking about Leeds’ whole season.

With a visit to West Ham United and a home game against Tottenham Hotspur to come, Leeds will need two more performances like this one if they are to stay up, but at long last they are showing the character necessary to do so.

United need Antony to make better decisions: It took a stoppage time goal for Manchester United to complete a 2-0 win over a Wolverhampton Wanderers side with nothing to play for and little to offer on Saturday, but the game could have been over long before with some better decisions from Brazilian winger Antony.

The 23-year-old has a deep bag of tricks and pace to burn, but all too often he chooses the wrong option when it comes to deciding whether to shoot or pass. He assisted Anthony Martial with a perfectly weighted pass for United’s opener, but by then he’d already angered his attacking colleague by taking on a difficult shot when a pass was the clearer play to make.

Antony had plenty of chances in the second half too, but his shooting often let him down, and there is a lesson to be learnt — by trying to set up others more often, he may find himself with more space to score.

Chelsea need more urgency, coach laments: Frank Lampard has seen Chelsea win only once in his eight games as interim coach in all competitions, and things will get no easier with trips to Manchester City and Manchester United before Newcastle United visit on the last day of the season.

Lampard voiced his frustration with the Blues’ attack, especially in an aimless first half of Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Nottingham Forest, despite Raheem Sterling scoring twice after the break.

“In the second half when we showed bits of that in our game, it looked different, it is a game that you want to come and watch. You have to have speed in the last third of the game,” the former Chelsea midfielder said.

Reuters