\n<\/p>\n
Gary Neville\u2019s comments on Manchester City \u201crelishing\u201d the title race have aged poorly, with Arsenal capitalising on this new curse\u2026<\/p>\n
Momentum is back on the side of Arsenal<\/strong> in the Premier League title race following a potentially decisive bank holiday weekend.<\/p>\n A long-awaited title was Arsenal\u2019s to lose towards the end of March, but they threw away their sizable advantage with back-to-back Premier League defeats following losses in the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup quarter-final.<\/p>\n At this stage, Mikel Arteta<\/strong>\u2018s squad were once again being dragged down by the immense weight of the expectation at the Emirates, with their fearful mindset and the additional impact of key players being unavailable taking over at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n This was made worse by Pep Guardiola getting a tune out of his imperfect squad when it mattered most, with a new-look preferred XI rising to the occasion of contesting for a Premier League title.<\/p>\n Man City<\/strong> had previously missed opportunities to close in on Arsenal due to their own fragility, but the possibly game-changing January additions of Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo, plus the emergence of Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico O\u2019Reilly and Rayan Cherki, helped Guardiola to puzzle together a side that has looked primed to snatch another title from their rivals\u2019 grasp.<\/p>\n READ: Arsenal and Manchester City\u2019s \u2018alive\u2019 title race is still only about one thing: \u2018BOTTLE\u2019 From sitting nine points adrift, Man City ensured the title was back in their hands by beating Arsenal 2-1 on April 19 in one of the games of the season.<\/p>\n Man City then knew that they would be champions once again as long as they won their remaining five games and finished with a greater goal difference than Arsenal, and this certainly felt achievable now that they had found their groove.<\/p>\n However, the knock-on effect of reaching the FA Cup semi-final was that the Gunners would have two Premier League games and the chance to pile on the pressure before Man City\u2019s trip to Everton on Monday night.<\/p>\n Arsenal sides in previous seasons would have completely folded after the setback at the Etihad, but they recovered to beat Newcastle United (albeit unconvincingly) before turning on the style in a one-sided victory over Fulham, having returned to the front-foot approach which served them so well at the start of this campaign.<\/p>\n And while Man City\u2019s victory over Arsenal felt massive, these two results (and especially the manner of the performance against Fulham) now feel even bigger following that<\/em> 13-minute capitulation at The Hill Dickinson Stadium on Monday night.<\/strong><\/p>\n READ MORE: Man City \u2018bottlers\u2019 as Arsenal fans promise to be \u2018insufferable\u2019 Man City did show resilience to salvage a point against Everton, but a last-grasp salvo was only required because Guehi and Khusanov had calamitous moments after they were among the players lauded by Neville last month for \u201crelishing\u201d the title race while playing with a \u201cchest out\u201d confidence.<\/p>\n Neville said: \u201c(Abdukodir) Khusanov hadn\u2019t emerged, (Marc) Guehi was at the club, (Antoine) Semenyo wasn\u2019t at the club and (Nico) O\u2019Reilly wasn\u2019t at this level.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of a sudden these four or five players \u2013 Khusanov, Guehi, Semenyo, O\u2019Reilly and (Rayan) Cherki \u2013 have just stepped up a massive level in the last four to six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n This was true before the Everton match and it is also fair to say that Arsenal had been \u201cconsumed\u201d by the title race, but there has been a rather substantial swing in the momentum over the past few days, and it is partly because Man City\u2019s players have been the first to slip both literally and figuratively in the final stretch.<\/p>\n While Arsenal came of age against Fulham and refused to go into their shell, Man City\u2019s rebuilt squad collapsed under adversity at Everton as the naivety of certain players dragged them down.<\/p>\n Now, it would be foolish to suggest that the title race is now over, as there have been endless twists and turns this season. Still, Arsenal\u2019s supposed weakness of having poor mental strength has actually nudged them closer to the title, and it will be hard to look past them if they attack West Ham with the same impetus they displayed against Fulham.<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Big Midweek: Bayern Munich v PSG, Arsenal, Unai Emery, Chris Wood <\/div>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nGary Neville\u2019s words age like milk\u2026<\/h2>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n