I managed to catch a glimpse of Manchester City’s expected win over Sheffield United in the FA Cup courtesy of a hat-trick from the ever-dangerous Riyad Mahrez, and to the neutrals, their hopes of a ‘treble’ remains realistic, with a place in the FA Cup finals, a tasty double-legged tie against Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals, and their destiny in their hands in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s third draw on the spin following the pulsating finish against Southampton has seen Mikel Arteta’s men drop six points from a possible nine, with 75 points on the Premier League table to Man City’s 70, which essentially means that if Arsenal lose to Man City on Wednesday, as well as the Cityzens winning every other fixture for the rest of the campaign, it will be yet another Premier League win for Pep Guardiola and his side, while Arsenal’s wait for the league title will be a whopping 20 years. 

This is the part where I look back on how the season has progressed and wish things could have been a whole lot better. I was a student of King’s College, Lagos when Arsenal took the Premier League by storm in 2004, earning immortality status by going unbeaten with 26 wins and 12 draws. Prior to that season, it has always been a two-horse race for the Premier League table between Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson, then Jose Mourinho came into the picture with the ascension of Roman Abramovich’s millions and Sheikh Mansour followed suit. It’s not like we have always been outsiders – the 2007/08 season held so much promise with the fantastic four in midfield, Aliaksandr Hleb, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie and the clinical Eduardo da Silva leading the line. Eduardo suffered that horrific injury in St. Andrews and the season derailed. The Gunners also had decent title challenges in the 2013/14 season, or the Campaign of the Ramsey, and of course, that 2015/16 campaign that Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri did the unthinkable. When Danny Welbeck scored that late header, Arsenal were just two points behind the league leaders, but that campaign went awry.

Since then, we have been in the trenches, failing to qualify for the Champions League for consistent campaigns before missing out of Europe entirely a couple of seasons ago. Last season’s failure to qualify for Europe’s elite competition right at the death was a bitter pill to swallow, as injuries to key players came back to haunt the team, but Arsenal made some smart recruitments this summer and the team gelled after playing together for quite some time.

After losing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal needed an alpha male in attack, and Man City’s Gabriel Jesus was the answer to that request, bringing much more than just goalscoring to the side, even though we as fans hope that he can be more clinical when the chances present themselves. Oleksandr Zinchenko revolutionized our progressive play with his double up as a left back and central midfielder, which gave Granit Xhaka a new lease of life and showcased Gabriel’s amazing covering abilities. William Saliba, after three seasons out on loan, finally came of age, and became a mainstay in the heart of the defense, shunting 50 million quid Ben White to battle it out with Takehiro Tomiyasu, which he excelled admirably. Our wingers, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, put out elite output every week and Martin Odegaard assumed the mantle of the captaincy with such pride and panache, leading the line with breathtaking performances week in week out. Thomas Partey managed to get better from a fitness standpoint and became the midfield general we have always known him to be. 

The January signings also galvanized the team when we needed them the most. After failed pursuits for Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo, Arsenal got Leandro Trossard and Jorginho, two experienced and established Premier League-ready footballers that hit the ground running from the onset. Jakub Kiwior came around to be a backup to Gabriel and I’m certain his time would come where he’d be able to strut his stuff.

These guys have showcased Arteta’s footballing philosophy on the pitch and are currently on top on the Premier League and we are on the home stretch, and it has been one hell of a ride. On one side, there is that measure of regret that we could have done better to secure the Premier League with Man City ‘distracted’ with other competitions, but the recent performances have been nothing to write home about in terms of the final outcome, not necessarily the play, because the mere fact that we dropped points against the likes of West Ham and Southampton doesn’t show that we are ready to secure the Premier League. The other side of the divide are the ones that are still hanging in there, clinging to any modicum of hope that maybe, there would be another twist in the tail that could see things tip to our favor yet again, despite our current disappointments. 

Whatever side you chose to be, you should feel a sense of pride on what we have achieved this season. I know that we are returning to Champions League football, which has been the goal for quite a number of seasons. Winning the league was supposed to be an added bonus, but the football we have played showed that we deserve to be where we currently are.

On top of the league.

Sayonara.

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