LONDON // In the title race that has been endlessly intriguing, there came another twist.
When Manchester City took a first-half lead – after Chelsea had been beaten by Crystal Palace – it seemed the season had taken a decisive turn. Had City held on, they would have gone top of the table on goal difference with two games in hand.
But Arsenal, after a week in which its resolve has been subject to intense scrutiny, fought back on Saturday and found an equaliser that, if it does not quite get them back into the title race – although they are still only five points off the top – at least keeps it wide open.
Liverpool will go top if they beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. "Four teams have a chance to win the title," Manuel Pellegrini said.
The Manchester City manager admitted that, having seemingly been in such control, he was disappointed to have let two points slip, but he still described this as “a good point”.
After all, when the dust settles, they have taken four points from two tough away games this week and have their destiny in their own hands. Arsenal, meanwhile, having dropped seven points in their last three games, face an almighty scrap to cling on to fourth with Everton, who face Fulham on Sunday, seven points back with two games in hand.
Initially, it was familiar problems that undid them. Five of the six goals Arsenal had conceded at Chelsea last Saturday came from losing the ball cheaply in midfield, and the pattern was repeated after 18 minutes against City.
This time it was Lukas Podolski who was dispossessed, the ball breaking from Jesus Navas’s challenge to David Silva. He sprinted 50 yards without facing a serious challenge before laying in Edin Dzeko, whose shot hit the post and bounced back off Silva and in.
Quite how much he knew about the finish is debatable, but it would be absurd to suggest the goal was in any way fortunate. Again and again, he, Navas and Pablo Zabaleta worked openings on the right, poor Kieran Gibbs quite overwhelmed as Podolski offered almost nothing in the way of defensive support.
Increasingly, the German seems a player with all the physical attributes to be top class and none of the mental ones; he simply never fulfils his defensive responsibilities consistently.
He does, though, keep running when going forward, and it was that persistence ultimately that got Arsenal back into the game.
This is an Arsenal who follow no logical pattern. It is not that they are mentally strong – as Wenger repeatedly claims – or mentally weak – as many others have suggested: they are both and neither, a team of great resilience prone to fragility, a delicate side who can at times prove surprisingly stubborn.
Having been largely outplayed in the first half, they upped the tempo in the second and levelled after 53 minutes, a patient move from one side of the pitch to the other resulting in Podolski crossing for Flamini to sweep in.
Flamini was at his controlling best. In 16 league games in which he has played at least 45 minutes, Arsenal have taken 39 points, while in the 16 league games in which he has not, just 25.
A minute before conceding, City had come within a whisker of doubling their advantage, Navas’s low cross bobbling off Per Mertesacker and bouncing just wide. On such fine margins can championships be won or lost, but still, the sense remains that City have overcome a major hurdle.
The game at Anfield in two weeks looks potentially decisive – although Pellegrini, true to form, would say only that he was focusing on Southampton next week.
With Silva in a majestic streak of form and the defensive structure of the side looking healthier than it has all season – only Chelsea have conceded fewer goals than City – City remain favourites, but this has been a season that has persistently defied expectations.
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