Despite a valiant effort, Arsenal could not quite do enough to land their first Premier League crown in twenty years this season.
To keep pace with this all-conquering Manchester City side until the final game of the Premier League season was an achievement in and of itself, but even though Arsenal beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium in their last match, the reigning champions were able to retain their crown with victory over West Ham United.
Mikel Arteta will look back on this season with pride. However, he will appreciate that there is still room for improvement, and clearly believes that there is more to come from his side. Speaking on the pitch after the final whistle against Everton, Arteta made a promise of future silverware to Arsenal fans.
The Spanish coach will now reflect on this season, looking for the moments where things went wrong for the Gunners.
5 Moments that cost Arsenal the Premier League title
VAR fiasco against Newcastle
Arsenal travelled to St James’ Park in early November and fell to a 1-0 defeat. However, Arteta was convinced that the Magpies’ strike should not have stood. Before Anthony Gordon put the ball in the back of the net, the ball appeared to have gone out of play, and there was a perceived push on Gabriel Magalhaes as well as an offside claim against the Newcastle man.
However, a VAR review decided against chalking off the goal. Arteta did not hold back in his post-match comments as he launched into a fiery rant about the standard of Premier League officiating.
It has since been suggested that VAR did in fact make a mistake, but in truth, the Gunners did not create enough chances to deserve to win the match themselves.
Kai Havertz experiment backfires on Mikel Arteta
Arteta initially planned to use Kai Havertz as a midfielder when he brought him to Arsenal in the recent summer transfer window. However, the £65 million former Chelsea man never looked comfortable in the role and struggled throughout the first half of the season.
However, following the turn of the year the German was installed as a striker and hasn’t looked back since. Havertz went on to enjoy his most successful ever season in English football in front of goal.
Arteta must surely now be wondering what might have been had Havertz led the line from the off.
Arsenal fumble festive period
The Gunners were top of the table on Christmas Day. Defeats against Fulham and West Ham United then saw them tumble down the table before New Years’ Day.
Arteta’s side responded to this setback and made up the lost ground, but this was a period in which they really need to be extending their lead rather than playing catch up.
Arsenal surrender control against Aston Villa
An otherwise almost perfect 2024 run of domestic form was marred by a 2-0 home defeat against Aston Villa in mid-April. This result saw Arsenal surrender control of the title race.
Arteta made changes to his line-up for this game, with Havertz dropping back into midfield and Gabriel Jesus spearheading the attack. Ultimately, these changes failed to pay off.
Tottenham star Son Heung-min can’t save Arsenal
Manchester City travelled to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for their penultimate Premier League game of the season. Had Pep Guardiola’s side dropped points in North London, then Arsenal would have had the destiny of the title in their own hands on the final day of the campaign.
Manchester City came away with a 2-0 win, but it could easily have been so different. In the 85th minute, with the score still only 1-0 in the visitors’ favours, Spurs’ talismanic attacker Son Heung-min was played clean through on goal.
Had he found the back of the net, Tottenham may well have held on to claim a point. Instead, the South Korea international’s poor attempt at a finish was kept out. Son has since taken ‘responsibility’ for his role in ending Arsenal’s title dream and his own club’s hope of Champions League qualification.