One more win from the title. One corner delivered three points and Arsenal did what mattered most, even if it all looked far more difficult than anyone in the stadium wanted it to. In a strange twist, the team ended up winning exactly the sort of narrow, suffocating match we had spent so long associating with City.
Arsenal still seem incapable of making supposedly easier matches feel easy. Somehow the game always turns into a tense and narrow story full of heavy legs, rushed touches and the familiar sense that a one-goal lead means nothing until the final whistle blows.
Viktor started on the bench again, the cards were shuffled again, and even if we have grown used to that sight, it still surprises you when the teamsheet lands. Arsenal did create moments. Trossard came close again with one of those awkward, improvised efforts of his, but this time the post denied him. There were enough chances to make the evening calmer, but calm never really arrived.
In the end it was Kai Havertz who decided it. Yes, he was the scorer and yes, he remains the joker when the team needs one, but the injury has clearly changed him. He looks heavier, a little less reachable in his movements, and not quite like the same player who could carry long stretches of attacking chaos on his own. Still, even this version of Havertz was enough for three points, and at this stage of the season that is the only currency that matters.
And if we are being honest, while the three points deserve celebration, much of what Odegaard did belongs more in the analysis room than in the victory parade. He is immensely intelligent, sees things others do not, and has everything to become a great playmaker, but there is always that one "but". He loves to carry the ball, loves to stand in front of a man and then add another touch, as if inventing one more beautiful movement matters more than making the attack flow. It stands out even more when Eze beside him is trying to solve everything in two touches.
In short: difficult, expected, ugly and tense. There is almost no other way to describe a match like this when the title is within reach and every pass feels as if it carries an extra kilo of pressure.
Viktor came on late and again showed how quickly he can make defenders uneasy simply by fighting. Of course the flaws appear too, especially when he tries to go through three players as if one burst of force can solve everything, but some of that comes from entering late and wanting to do too much at once. The crowd sees the effort, though. Every duel, every sprint, every chase is now being met with louder applause. They are slowly taking him in, and deservedly so.
There are already numbers going around suggesting he has among the fewest touches of any centre-forward while still being the team's top scorer. That tells you enough about him and perhaps a little about how late the team sometimes sees him. He keeps scratching back to the surface anyway, dry, hungry and fully in love with the fight.
Maybe it could have been more. Maybe it should have looked better. But the three points are there, and the relief on the players' faces said plenty. They might have lived with it. The fans certainly suffered through it.
Now all eyes turn to City. If they drop points, Arsenal are champions. But there is no point sprinting emotionally before the road allows it. Three points are banked, recovery comes next, then attention shifts to Brentford and finally to Crystal Palace.
This is no longer the stage for theories about what others might do. It is the stage where Arsenal have to meet the last game at full power and with no compromise. Chances like this, where everything still sits in your own hands, do not come often.
One more.
Author: B.