Premier League 2018/19: 3 games that cost Arsenal a top 4 spot
With the 2018/19 Premier League now done and dusted, one set of fans more than any others are probably left with a sense of regret and disappointment.
For Unai Emery’s Arsenal, 2018/19 has to go down as a huge missed opportunity. Although they may yet win the Europa League to qualify for next season’s Champions League, the Gunners have missed out on qualification through the league after they finished in 5th place, a point behind bitter rivals Tottenham.
It could’ve been so different, too. At numerous times during the season it looked like Arsenal were practically a shoe-in for a top four spot, and during the last few games in particular they had their chance to really claim their place – and unfortunately for Gunners fans they slipped up time and time again.
Here are 3 games which really cost Arsenal their chance at a top four place.
#1 vs. Brighton – 05/05/2019
We begin with the most recent – the result that essentially meant Arsenal had to hope for a miracle on the final day, with Spurs losing to Everton and Arsenal defeating Burnley and somehow managing an 8-goal swing over their bitter rivals in the process.
Realistically, it was never going to happen, but had the Gunners managed to defeat Brighton on the bank holiday weekend, they never would’ve needed such a result in the first place.
Unai Emery’s side were coming off 3 straight losses, but with Tottenham slipping up badly too – losing to Bournemouth a day prior – this was Arsenal’s chance to move within a point of them going into the final match.
Facing the Seagulls, who were safe at this stage with nothing to play for, at the Emirates Stadium, hardly seemed like the trickiest hurdle. And just 9 minutes into the game – when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dispatched a penalty – it looked like the Gunners would leap it easily.
But somehow Emery’s men began to stutter and never really got into a groove, and with Arsenal’s back line looking vulnerable, Brighton began to carve out some chances.
Even then though it didn’t look like they’d actually score – until Granit Xhaka made a ludicrous foul on Solly March in the penalty area. Glenn Murray casually dispatched the spot-kick, and suddenly the Gunners were back to square one.
Things became frantic from there as Arsenal threw everything they had at Brighton’s goal – but couldn’t get past the twin towers of Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk, as well as the Seagulls’ keeper Mat Ryan, who made some fantastic saves in the dying moments of the game. And with that, Arsenal had simply left themselves with too much to do on the final day to make the top four.