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Getting all three points can make everyone happy, but sometimes, it is the overall game which impresses fans regardless of the scoreline. Arsene Wenger has brought huge glory to the club in his early days as the team's manager. In recent years, Arsenal has started to fall far too easily to stronger opponents and fans are unable to get behind the club.
This season has sadly become Wenger's last season. Despite all the talk from the Frenchman that he wants to leave the club on a high note, this season is not the one Wenger has been dreaming of. Arsenal has finished in the lowest position ever since the 68 years-old manager took over. The Gunners also end the season empty-handed after being knocked out of Europa League by Atletico Madrid.
Disappointing is the only word that can sum up Arsenal's whole season. The team has been awful while playing away from home and dropped plenty of points to weaker opponents in the Premier League. In the whole season, there were only a couple of occasions where Arsenal impressed the fans with their amazing style of football. Here is a look at five standout performances in Premier League this season from the Gunners.
5) Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United
The result of the match was far from pleasing as Arsenal lost all three points while playing at home. However, this surely has been one of Arsenal's standout performances with many citing that the team did not deserve to lose to the Red Devils.
It was Wenger's first home defeat of the season and unexpectedly, the French manager could not hide his disappointment. The match looked far beyond Arsenal's reach after Jose Mourinho's side scored two goals in the opening 11 minutes of the match.
Thereafter, the Arsenal players actually stepped up their game. In a largely dominant match, the Gunners racked up a total of 33 shots with 16 on target. However, they could only find a goal through Alexandre Lacazette. Manchester United's goalkeeper, David de Gea, was the man responsible for saving most of the shots, denying Arsenal of their chances to score.
On any other day, against any other team, with such amazing statistics, Arsenal could have easily thrashed their opponents. Unfortunately, luck was absent from their side as they witnessed the Red Devils score three simple goals.
The key area that stood out was Arsenal's resilience and never give up attitude.
4) Arsenal 3-3 Liverpool
The game started with Philippe Coutinho scoring before Mohamed Salah added Liverpool's second of the night. It all became far too familiar for the home fans. They have too often witnessed the early goals that the Gunners let in. With a two-goal deficit, the game looks beyond home as Arsenal looked likely to be dropping all three points.
A minute after Salah scored, things changed. Former Arsenal man, Alexis Sanchez, pulled one back for his side. In just five minutes, Arsenal scored three goals in total to take the lead. That was a stunning and extremely enjoyable five minutes for all Arsenal fans to watch. Brilliance from Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil suddenly made Arsenal the front-runners to get all three points.
Despite Roberto Firmino equalizing in the 71st minute for Liverpool, that particular five minutes performance awed fans and gave everyone the confidence that this Arsenal team can actually play well. Usually, Arsenal would have fallen far behind their top opponents and they might have succumbed to the high pressure of the match. In this amazing 3-3 draw with the visitors, it was one of the rare standout performances of the season.
3) Arsenal 3-0 Watford
After Watford recorded a 2-1 victory over the Gunners back in October, Arsenal returned the favour by scoring three goals past the Hornets. Troy Deeney's last-minute penalty helped his side secure the victory last year and in the post-match conference, he mentioned that Wenger's side lacked 'cojones' to beat his team.
His comments infuriated many Arsenal players, especially Hector Bellerin, who begged to differ. In March 2018, Shkodran Mustafi opened the scoring in the 8th minute. The players wasted chances after chances. Soon, everyone was worried that the Gunners would soon pay for their wasted chances.
After the break, January signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored in the 59th minute. Things were finally looking good before Ainsley Maitland-Niles tripped Roberto Pereyra and that resulted in a penalty being awarded to Watford. Troy Deeney stepped up and the accurate penalty taker was expected to slot the ball past Petr Cech, who has had struggles when dealing with penalties.
Fortunately for the 35-year-old goalkeeper, he kept his 200th clean sheet that night. That gave Arsenal the momentum to go forward while confidence in the Watford team slipped. Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the third and final goal to solidify the result of the match.
Overall, the most impressive aspect of the game was Cech saving the penalty. Back in January, the experienced goalkeeper was singled out for his horrible penalty record. Of the last 15 penalties that he had faced, he saved none of them. On his 16th attempt to save a penalty, he finally succeeded, ending an unwanted record. It was a match to remember as the team fought hard to take all three points up for grab.
2) Arsenal 5-0 Burnley
In Arsene Wenger's final home match as the club's manager, the team delivered when they had to and gave him a grand farewell. The Frenchman's January signings proved their importance during the 5-0 home win over Burnley. Initially, there were fears over the fact that the visitor could actually replace the Gunners in 6th place. After the match, the fears seem to have allayed.
It was a huge blow for Wenger on Thursday, as he saw his side crash out of the Europa League and he lost Laurent Koscielny through injury. Missing out on the Europa League finals meant that Wenger has never won a European competition trophy with the Premier League side. It was something he wanted badly but never came through.
Bouncing back from the defeat, Aubameyang helped the Gunners to an early lead. Together with Lacazette, the two forwards are a delight to watch when they play side by side. If both of them can stay free of injuries next season, they could be racking up plenty of goals under the new manager.
There was even more delight with the performance from former Manchester United player, Mkhitaryan. He seemed to be getting back to his best form seen in Bundesliga as he dribbled the ball past the defenders and created chances for his team-mates. In the huge win, Arsenal had 16 shots with 8 of them on target. Examining the attacking side of Arsenal, they look prepared to score more goals next season.
On the other hand, at the defense, Konstantinos Mavropanos made his second senior appearance since joining in January. He made a bright debut when Arsenal visited Old Trafford. Against The Clarets, he stood tall and strong in the center of the defensive line. It was amazing to see his partnership with Calum Chambers working well as of now. Rob Holding remains another highly rated prospect to take over Arsenal's senior centre-backs. Overall, it was an extremely encouraging showing from the Gunners.
1) Arsenal 2-0 Tottenham
The North London Derby remains one of the most highly watched matches all season. The clash between Tottenham and Arsenal have been sterner than before as Tottenham's dominance in Premier League grows.
Prior to the match, Arsenal dumped 0-3 while playing away from home at Etihad. There was speculation that North London derbies could soon be dominated by Tottenham as Arsenal fall further and further from the top four.
At the Emirates, both sides took longer than expected to open the scoring. Arsenal's center-back Mustafi scored the first goal before Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead. In the second half, Arsenal managed to keep an amazing clean sheet. Unlike the majority of games that Arsenal has played, the team shared possession equally with Tottenham. The Gunners had slightly lesser possession of the ball at 48%, but they had more shots on target.
Getting a positive result over strong rivals has always been able to cheer the fans and the result of the North London Derby at the Emirates is no exception. Captain of the match, Laurent Koscielny, did his job well to keep Harry Kane quiet. The former Arsenal academy player has been known for scoring against his old club is almost every match. In that particular match, The Lilywhites were kept quiet.
It was Wenger's second last North London Derby and a memorable one for keeping Pochettino's side at bay.
