Arsenal players can take some consolation from this evening despite their Premier League title hopes taking a huge dent at the hands of Manchester City.
It was a painful night for the Gunners as their 4-1 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s side leaves them needing a massive favour from other teams if they are to win their first Premier League title in 19 years.
Erling Haaland broke the Premier League goalscoring record for 38 games with his 33rd goal, after Kevin De Bruyne bagged a brace and John Stones also scored for the hosts. It’s a result that leaves Arsenal two points above City – who have two games in hand.
However, in the East Midlands, Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 victory over Brighton not only boosted the host’s chance of Premier League survival, but also was a result of significance for Arsenal.
The result ensured Arsenal have qualified for next season’s Champions League.
Arsenal received some consolation despite their heavy defeat to Man City on Wednesday
The Gunners have qualified for the Champions League for the first time in seven years
Their qualification was sealed thanks to Brighton’s 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest
It is the first time that the Gunners have qualified for Europe’s top competition since the 2015-16 season – a campaign where they finished second to Leicester in the Premier League.
The Gunners have not played any Champions League football since their 10-2 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 during the 2016-17 campaign.
Though Brighton were only 8th going into their clash with Nottingham Forest tonight, the fact they have three games in hand over the Gunners gave them extra points to close the gap if Arsenal had suffered a catastrophic collapse in the final weeks of the season.
Arsenal would have aimed for Champions League qualification at the start of the season after narrowly missing out behind their local rivals Tottenham last season.
But given they had an eight point lead over Man City just a matter of weeks ago, there will be more a sense of disappointment after tonight’s result, with Guardiola’s side now in control of the title fight, and the Gunners have known for some time they would likely be in next season’s Champions League.
The Gunners have seen a decline in form in recent weeks with their defeat to City following draws with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton.
They will now need to win all of their games and hope City drop five points in their final seven matches to claw away the title from the reigning champions.
The Gunners though will be hoping other teams can do them a massive favour in the title race
Mikel Arteta’s side have a two point lead over Man City – though they have two games in hand
