(Football news) The weekend saw the Arsenal men steal a creditable point from Manchester City, while the Hatters lost 2-1 in North London to Tottenham Hotspur after failing to hold onto a 1-0 lead.
The big event on Easter Sunday began seconds after Liverpool had overtaken Brighton & Hove Albion to move up to the top, adding even more pressure on both teams. Arsenal’s top priority was to avoid the typical humiliation of the Etihad.
While Arteta’s team struggled for extended periods of time to break out of their own half, David Raya was provided with excellent cover from two stationary opponents in William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, whose efforts proved crucial in Arsenal’s impressive goalless draw.
The Gunners arguably had the better chances to steal all the spoils in spite of their significantly inferior possession, but few Gooners would have turned their nose up to four points from six against Man City at the start of the season, even if they are no longer in control of the title fight.
Still one point clear of the current holders in second position, Arsenal now have a two-point disadvantage to make up with Liverpool – who do not play again until Thursday evening – so the Gunners need only follow their perfect pattern against newly-promoted sides to momentarily return to the summit.
Indeed, each of Arsenal’s five league games against 2022-23 Championship sides this year has ended in victory, and the hosts have strung together an outstanding 38-match Premier League unbeaten streak against newly-promoted teams at the Emirates since Hull City’s 2-1 upset in 2008.
Though Rob Edwards’s team also gave Arsenal’s fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur a tremendous run for their money on Saturday, where Tahith Chong needed just three minutes to draw first blood, Wednesday’s hosts were undoubtedly given quite the scare during their Kenilworth Road match against Luton.
Luton came out for the second half leading by one goal, but they were quickly pegged back by one of their own goals (Issa Kabore mishandled Brennan Johnson’s cross into his own net) and a late Son Heung-min strike that sailed past Thomas Kaminski after an unfortunate deflection.
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