Alan Shearer isn’t surprised Arsenal have looked ‘nervy’ and ‘edgy’ in recent matches, but the ex-England striker is still backing Mikel Arteta’s men to ‘go ahead and do it’ in the race for the Premier League title.
Arsenal preserved their five-point lead at the top with a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Chelsea at the Emirates, but it was far from the most convincing performance and the league leaders were made to work for their victory.
The visitors had looked on course to take a point away from north London after Piero Hincapie directed the ball into his own net on the stroke of half-time to cancel out William Saliba’s headed opener.
The Gunners dug deep, though, and, for the second time in the contest, made their breakthrough came from a corner, with Jurrien Timber beating Robert Sanchez to restore the hosts’ advantage in the 66th minute.
While Chelsea were reduced to ten men following Pedro Neto’s sending off for a second bookable offence, David Raya had to be at his best to protect Arsenal lead’s with a fine save to deny Alejandro Garnacho in stoppage time.
‘A proper London derby,’ Arteta told reporters after his side’s win over the Club World Cup holders.
‘We expected that because of the quality of the opposition, because of the individual quality that they have, and because we played them four times already, so we know how good and difficult they are to play against.
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‘After we started the game so well, the first half was very, very dominant. I think the margin and the scoreline should have been bigger. But we were 1-1, so game on.’
After Hincapie’s own goal, Arteta was keen to remind his players what had happened just a week earlier when they blew Tottenham away in a dominant second-half performance.
‘I reminded them that we were in exactly the same position against the Spurs seven days ago in that dressing room,’ he added.
‘They said, “Look what happened in the second half, so we’re going to do it again, but probably we’re going to have to go through some difficult patches to end the right to win the game.”
‘We certainly did that. We took the moment to score the second goal and after the red card, we all expected a very different outcome in the last few minutes.
‘But we didn’t manage to control and dominate that scenario as well as we wanted.
‘On top of that, Chelsea did some very, very good things in that period and we needed David [Raya] to win us the game.’
Timber’s header took Arsenal’s goals from set-pieces to 22 for the Premier League this season – a statistic that has been used against Arteta’s side by pundits and rival fans alike.
But despite the gritty nature of the victory and a perceived overreliance on dead-ball situations, Shearer – the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer – remains confident that Arsenal will go on and end their long wait for the trophy.
‘Yeah, I would perhaps go along with that [the suggestion Arsenal need to be better from an attacking perspective],’ Shearer said on The Rest Is Football podcast.
‘But I’d much prefer, obviously, to still be in their position. If they win every game then they win it. As do City, I guess, but I’m not too concerned with that. I just think the bigger picture is that they find a way.
‘They found a way against Chelsea, they weren’t brilliant, but their set-pieces have done it for them again and there’s nothing wrong with that.
‘They’re going to be nervy, they’re going to be edgy because of the pressure that they’re under.
‘They’re human, I’ve been there myself, and it’s a huge ask, it is tough mentally and physically. It drains you.’
According to Shearer, modern-day stars have it ‘worse’ than players during his time at the top in the Premier League due to the incessant ‘noise’ they face on a daily basis on social media.
‘I don’t care who or what you are, and it’s worse now than it was in the 1990s when we won it for the first time at Blackburn, because of the noise around social media and what have you,’ he explained.
‘We didn’t really have that and it was still very tough then.
‘I get that they’re not going to be perfect but they’re in a really strong position and I still think that they will go ahead and do it.’
Arsenal will look to tighten their grip on top spot when they return to Premier League action away to Brighton on Wednesday night.
Second-placed Manchester City welcome Nottingham Forest to the Etihad that same evening and will hope to keep keep themselves within touching distance after seeing off Leeds at the weekend.
Will Arsenal end their wait for the title this season?
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Yes
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No
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