Premier dream eludes Arsenal despite coming agonisingly close Premium
The Hindu
Despite coming agonisingly close to winning the Premier League title after nearly 20 years, it was Manchester City that pipped Arsenal to lift its third consecutive title.
Arsenal remained on top of the Premier League table for 248 days. For eight months, it seemed that it was on its way to winning the league after nearly 20 years. Instead, that period became the most for a team which failed to win the title in English top-flight history.
Arsenal crumbled, lost steam in the crucial phase of the tournament and ultimately lost the title race to Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s men have been a thorn in Arsenal’s flesh, beating it in every competition since July 2020.
This season’s decline, rather a lack of success, started after the Leeds United game which Arsenal won 4-1 on April 1.
In the next three games, Arsenal dropped six points after sharing the honours with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
Two of those games saw the Gunners draw from winning positions after equalisers from Roberto Firmino and Jarrod Bowen respectively.
Mikel Arteta’s side huffed and puffed, and somehow managed to draw against relegation-threatened Southampton. By the time it came face-to-face with City, it was out of breath.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.