That one hurt.
It’s far easier to compartmentalise throwing away a 2-0 lead at Anfield, there’s even a school of thought that a point was not too bad considering how things panned out.
Coming away from West Ham with nothing to show for our efforts, having been two-goals to the good, and barely a week after surrendering a lead against Liverpool, is a different kettle of fish entirely.
Barely 15 minutes in and the three points should have been sealed. Two goals up and cruising, Arsenal looked every inch like they were about to match Manchester City’s destruction of Leicester barely 24 hours earlier.
Fast forward to the 60th minute and the Gunners have thrown it all away, and then some.
That Bukayo Saka missed a penalty at 2-1, with the possibility to really shut the hosts down for good was one more gut punch amid a barrage of blows we have suffered in the last two weeks. It feels so much like a defining run of fixtures that, in the white-hot immediacy of the post-match, bodes ill for our title challenge.
We are still four points clear (one point clear in many ways) and the title is still in our hands but there is a creeping sense of dread that is beginning to take over. And you can be sure, if it’s starting to permeate the fan base, it’s starting to register with the players too.
Failing to learn our lessons from last week, when complacency proved so costly, is the most inexcusable thing of all that transpired today.
Even Manchester City, with all their skill, talent and experience, don’t stop at 2-0 when they’re cruising. They hit three or four before they even consider game management. Two is never enough and Pep’s men know that. Twice, Arsenal have learned that to their sorrow.
In the headline to this blog, I note that ‘moments win matches’ and that has never been better demonstrated than it was today. In big moments, in the match-defining split seconds, we failed.
I hope, above all else, that we can dust ourselves down and get back on track against Southampton next Friday because, after the few weeks we’ve just had, three points would feel extremely welcome. It would help to refocus minds and recapture some belief again ahead of what will likely be the title-deciding showdown at Manchester City in the following week.
If naught else, the three points would mathematically secure our place in the Champions League for next season and that would feel like something to cling to as we come to the end of a long, arduous campaign.
For now, we have some serious wounds to lick because things are bleaker now than at almost any point in this campaign. A lot of confidence has been knocked and it feels a lot like how it felt after we threw away the top four at Newcastle last season.
We have to shrug that off and quickly because rot has a habit of spreading.
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