Premier League title race tightens as Arsenal’s lead shrinks and Manchester City surge gathers pace
From a nine-point cushion to a four-point edge in less than a week, Arsenal’s authority atop the Premier League has been trimmed and tested — and the momentum feels as if it has tilted toward Manchester City.
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Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday did not dislodge Mikel Arteta’s side from first place, and, crucially, the league leaders still control their fate. Yet the psychology of a title chase can shift quickly. City, with a game in hand, clawed back ground by coming from behind to beat Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday and following up against Fulham on Wednesday. The math says the Gunners remain in charge; the mood suggests they have a fight on their hands.
“Disappointed with just a point of course but we know it’s a tough place to come. We just have to stick together because we’re still in a great position. Go again,” goalkeeper David Raya said, distilling the locker-room posture after a tense night at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Arsenal had appeared to exhale when Noni Madueke broke the deadlock in the 61st minute, his header wrong-footing Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. Arteta’s celebration on the touchline spoke to the sense of release; instead, the goal sharpened the noise. Brentford pushed, pounced on restarts and drew level 10 minutes later when Keane Lewis-Potter launched into a diving header to make it 1-1.
“After we scored the goal we lacked more composure to maintain the level better, to play in the right areas, to keep discipline,” Arteta said. “We started to give set-pieces away, and they are really good at them — so credit to them as well.”
The closing act was frantic. Brentford’s Igor Thiago blasted over when clean through, and Kelleher denied Gabriel Martinelli in stoppage time. “The chances we created, it doesn’t take a genius to see we were more likely to win it as the game went on,” Brentford coach Keith Andrews said, a verdict that will rankle the league leaders but captured the home side’s late surge.
Five days earlier, Arsenal’s 3-0 dismissal of Sunderland had sent a message as well as the lead to nine points, albeit provisionally, with City carrying a game in hand. Back-to-back City wins altered the complexion of the race. Thursday’s draw made it feel tangible.
This is not unfamiliar terrain. City beat Arsenal to the title in consecutive seasons in 2023 and ’24, coming from behind across long stretches to do so. Arsenal then finished runner-up for a third straight year last season, when Liverpool won the league. Those scars can harden a side — or unsettle it. Which complexion defines Arteta’s group will shape the spring.
On Thursday’s evidence, Arsenal have work to do in the micro-moments that separate champions from challengers. Game state management — the ability to control tempo after scoring, manage set pieces against a specialist opponent and turn pressure into precision — escaped them after Madueke’s opener. Brentford’s response was direct and disciplined, and it asked Arsenal to be calm. The Gunners fidgeted.
There is, still, a sizeable counterweight: Arsenal’s margin for error remains larger than City’s. The Gunners lead the table, own the tie-breakers that matter to their dressing room and, as Raya noted, can lean on the knowledge that they are “in a great position.” The title does not get won in February, but it can be shaped by what gets banked now — points, poise and patterns that carry into April.
That month looms, with Arsenal still to travel to City. The fixture has been decisive in recent years, not only for the points at stake but for the statement it can send to both dressing rooms. Arteta’s squad have embraced the chase before; this time, the test is to set the pace and hold it.
Declan Rice, a barometer for Arsenal’s composure, accepted the reality without feeding the noise. “You can’t be naive to think this is going to be easy,” he said. “We have to block out the outside noise. We have done that really well. People are going to talk up the title race and Arsenal, but we have a really calm group.”
What matters next, for both contenders, is clarity:
- Arsenal must turn control into conviction, especially when leading and protecting margins away from home.
- Set-piece discipline will be critical after Brentford’s equalizer exposed a softness in the minutes after going ahead.
- City’s game in hand and recent run tighten the vise — but also heighten the pressure on the chasers to keep winning.
- The April meeting with City profiles as a potential hinge; how Arsenal arrive there may prove just as important as what happens on the day.
There is oxygen in a four-point lead and alarm in how quickly it was reduced. Arsenal have both. City, ever relentless, have transformed what was a commanding gap into a compelling race. The next few weeks will tell whether Thursday was a wobble on Arsenal’s climb or the first sign that the mountain, once again, will be scaled from behind by the champions of habit.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
