Arsenal earned a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich last night, and even though the result knocked them out of this season’s Champions League, it proved that Arsenal might still have what it takes to fight till the end in the Premier League title race.
The odds were stacked against Arsenal when they traveled to Munich and they were left with a mountain to climb in an attempt to overcome the two goal deficit from the first leg. Even though they failed to win it, they showed enough grit and determination against one of Europe’s top sides to give themselves enough belief to hold their own in the title race.
They are currently seven points off the leaders Chelsea and level on points with second placed Liverpool, but they have a game in hand over the leaders and with games against both Chelsea and Manchester City still to come this month, they will feel that their title race is far from over if they manage to get the three points from both those fixtures.
The only bad news amidst all this is the hamstring injury that star playmaker Mesut Ozil suffered against Bayern – he had to be substituted during the half-time break – and he is likely to be out of action for up to three weeks. So Arsenal could well be without his services against Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester City, but they played much better in the second half without him in the side.
However, if they are able to maintain similar performance levels against their fellow title contenders, they should be in with a really great chance to topple the favorites. One of the biggest positives that came out of the game for Arsenal was the performance of former Bayern attacker Lukas Podolski, who was outstanding down the left for Arsenal. He seemed to be out on the pitch with a point to prove and prove he did.
With Podolski firing on all cylinders, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will have little to worry about Ozil’s absence as it would mean that Santi Cazorla would be able to return to his more preferred role just behind the central striker. And to add to that, Aaron Ramsey has returned to fitness and could be available to start against Chelsea next week, which in itself is a huge boost for the Gunners as the Welsh man single handedly won games for them in the first half of the campaign. With Cazorla pulling the strings and Podolski and Oxlade Chamberlain running at defenders, Chelsea and City could have a real fight on their hands.
Arsenal’s defense may not have been outstanding against Bayern, but they did manage to keep the Bavarian giants down to a solitary goal – Lukas Fabianski deserved much credit for that after he saved a penalty from Thomas Muller – and if they are able to put in a similar defensive shift from now till the end of the season, they should have more than a fair shot at the title.
While Arsenal’s chances of silverware may have dwindled following their exit from the Champions League, the manner of the exit may just have rekindled the fire that could see them towards the Premier League title come May.