From 10 points clear to 7 behind: Matches that defined Arsenal's dramatic fall from top

The Premier League title was over this Saturday evening, with Manchester City clutching the trophy due to Arsenal's loss to Nottingham Forest which handed the EPL title to Manchester City. However, Arsenal had a fantastic run till they couldn't handle the pressure that Manchester City applied. From a 10-point lead to 7 points behind, it has been a dramatic fall in results for the Gunners. 

In this article, we are going to cover what went wrong with Mikel Arteta's side that lead to Manchester City clutching their 5th Premier League title in the last 6 seasons. City came to the closest after Arsenal's loss to Brighton as it came out to be another letdown from Arteta's side to the fans. So it was, because of Taiwo Awoniyi's 19th-minute goal, which sparked scenes of joy in the City camp, with the players all watching together.

READ MORE: Arsenal Boss Voices Regret After Man City's Premier League Title Rout, 'I Apologise'

What went wrong for Arsenal in the EPL title race?

Pep Guardiola's players still have three league games left, but the tale of the season has been told throughout the season Looking back on the EPL title race, we've identified the games that have come to define how the title race unfolded, and the majority of them involve the Gunners.

• Manchester United 3-1 Arsenal - September 4th, 2022 - Arsenal went down into the game against their long-time rivals after winning the first 5 games of the season. Things went wrong in this fixture as after losing 3-1 to United, they lost points but remained above Pep Guardiola.
• Manchester City 2-1 Fulham - November 5th, 2022 - With Arsenal almost dominating the EPL, City's prime objective at the beginning of the season was to stay close to Arsenal on the EPL table. In this fixture, Joao Cancelo's red card made it look a little impossible to win and were heading for a draw. However, it was their new signing, Erling Haaland scored in the 97th minute through a penalty to secure 3 important points.
• Manchester City 1-2 Brentford - November 12th, 2022 - Before heading into the FIFA World Cup 2022, Arsenal had only dropped 5 points. City would have felt compelled to win to maintain its lead. Ivan Toney scored in the 98th minute, leaving Guardiola with some problems heading into the six-week vacation.
• Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle United - January 3rd, 2023 - Arsenal were strong and plenty ahead of their arch-rivals at the start of the year. However, a debatable draw with Newcastle led to pointing out the mentality and morale of Arsenal's team and fans as their manager left the stadium with anger. 
• Everton 1-0 Arsenal - February 4th, 2023 - In this fixture, the new manager for the Toffees made his debut against the Gunners. Sean Dyche turned up at Goodison Park and that's where the bad Arsenal news era starts. Everton won the game with a goal dismantling the success of the team from the first half of the season.
• Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Manchester City - February 5th, 2023 -  It was time to exhale as Manchester City dropped points right after the day Arsenal lost to Everton.  Arsenal would be thanking their local rivals for their assistance. No doubt conflicting emotions for Spurs fans, who were still vying for a top-four spot at the moment.
• Arsenal 1-1 Brentford - February 11th, 2023 - The disappointing second half of the season was just heading towards dropping crucial points. It was one of the most controversial games of the season as the Gunners dropped points due to the late equalizing goal from Ivan Toney.

• Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City - February 15th, 2023 - At this point in time, Arsenal was 8 points clear with a game in hand but this fixture was against the team that were chasing them for months. This match was Arsenal's hattrick of dropping points in a row, City won the game and took its first position from Arsenal. 
• Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal - February 18th, 2023 - A day that appeared to tip the title battle back in North London's advantage. Arsenal appeared set to draw again after three bad outcomes. Emi Martinez, a former Arsenal player, scored an injury-time own goal, and Gabriel Martinelli added a fourth goal to close the victory.
• Nottingham Forest 1-1 Manchester City - February 18th, 2023 - Nottingham equalized the game in the last few minutes of the game as Chris Woods was the player to add his name to the scoresheet and affect City's EPL race.
• Arsenal 3-2 Bournemouth - March 4th, 2023 - From getting 2-0 down in the first half. Arteta's side turned the game around to snatch the advantage from Manchester City. It was Reiss Nelson's 97th-minute match-winning goal.
• Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal - April 9th, 2023 - Arsenal had not dropped any points since losing to City, despite City's recent dominance. They were up 2-0 against Liverpool which didn't win in three games and appeared to be breaking their Anfield hoodoo. They did, though, lead Jurgen Klopp's team back in, and it was the beginning of the end.
• West Ham 2-2 Arsenal - April 16th, 2023 - When it seemed like Arsenal are back and were close to securing their first title in 20 years, David Moyes' relegation team managed to get 2 goals in 10 minutes. However, Arsenal made a comeback but was not helped by Bukayo Saka's missed penalty, they became the first Premier League leaders in history to blow back-to-back two-goal leads.

• Arsenal 3-3 Southampton - April 21st, 2023 - The best way to earn points for a strong team is to beat the team that is bottom of the table. Southampton was dominating Arteta's side as they required to make a comeback this time, losing, 2-0, 3-1, only managed to secure one point after equalizing by scoring two goals in two minutes.

• Manchester City 4-1 Arsenal - April 26th, 2023 - A trip to the Etihad following three consecutive defeats was the last thing the Gunners needed. They have blasted away in the first half, and with City's now-unavoidable late-season form in full swing, there was no way back for the visitors, both in the game and in the title chase.

  READ MORE: Man City Wins English Premier League After Arsenal Loses At Nottingham Fores

Arsenal bottled the league that they could have won with a little more stability as the team failed to perform under pressure. Last week, Arsenal's loss to Brighton made sure that they are mostly going to finish second as Manchester City still had a game in hand and so they did after losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest. However, the team has managed to qualify for the Champions League which they failed to do so last year.

Arteta's team will look to see what they can do to ensure that this title push isn't a one-season affair and to avoid being dragged back into the pack next season.

However, on the other hand, Manchester City has two finals to play:- FA Cup and UEFA Champions League and can secure a treble and those would be the defining games of their campaign.