Arsenal have been crowned Premier League champions but which six matches defined their title charge? football.london examines a rollercoaster season for the Gunners
The gruelling 22-year wait for Premier League title glory is no more: Arsenal are top-flight champions again.
Mikel Arteta has put the Gunners back upon their perch and with Pep Guardiola poised to depart Manchester City at the end of the season, Arsenal will be targeting a sustained period of dominance.
City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth on Tuesday night, meaning Martin Odegaard will lift the Premier League trophy at Selhurst Park in Arsenal’s final game of the season at Crystal Palace.
It’s been a long and rough ride to the finish line, with countless twists, turns, setbacks and moments where you wondered which way it was going to go.
Nonetheless, here are six matches that proved imperative to Arsenal’s success.
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Arsenal 1-1 Man City – September 21, 2025
This heavyweight clash at the Emirates feels like a lifetime ago, but it was an early indicator that Arsenal were ready to compete for the Premier League title again.
After five matches, they were already five points behind leaders Liverpool following a 1-0 defeat to the Reds at Anfield.
Looking back, Gabriel Martinelli’s late equaliser against City was a crucial goal because it ensured Pep Guardiola’s tough start to the campaign continued.
City always finish well, but after five games and throwing away all three points in north London, they were still only ninth in the table with seven points.
If City had started higher up the table at the beginning of the season, they’d have a better chance of eventually toppling the Gunners.
Arsenal 4-1 Aston Villa – December 30, 2025
This was a statement win for Arsenal that underlined their status as a force to be reckoned with.
Villa, who had beaten the Gunners 2-1 at Villa Park at the start of the month, were very much in the title picture, and many felt they were capable of springing a surprise at the Emirates.
However, Arsenal got their revenge after Emi Buendia’s last-gasp winner in the Midlands, blowing Unai Emery’s men away to stamp their authority on the Premier League table.
The result was also important for remaining ahead of City following a packed festive schedule.
Wolves 2-2 Arsenal – February 18, 2026
This game did not win Arsenal the title, but the response after the late collapse at Molineux did.
Everyone was questioning the Gunners’ mentality and the easy assumption was that the pressure was getting to Mikel Arteta’s men.
However, despite throwing away a 2-0 second-half lead, Arsenal rallied to win six of their next seven matches in all competitions.
The wretched showing in the Black Country sparked team meetings, which co-chair Josh Kroenke even attended, and those conversations enabled Arsenal to hit the reset button and go again.
The response was virtually instant as the Gunners hammered Tottenham 4-1 in the North London Derby that Sunday. Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres both scored twice.
Brighton 0-1 Arsenal – March 4, 2026
You know it’s an important win when, for the first time in a long while, supporters start chanting “we’re gonna win the league” in early March.
But there is no getting away from the fact that this result was massive because Manchester City drew 2-2 with Nottingham Forest on the same evening at the Etihad Stadium.
It put Arsenal seven points clear of City, though the second-place side still had a game in hand over their title rivals.
Bukayo Saka’s scruffy winner was the kind of goal you’d associate with Premier League champions because it was a tad lucky and Arsenal then had to ride their luck at the Amex amid time-wasting accusations.
Everton 3-3 Manchester City – May 4, 2026
It was the game of all games this season and by the end of it all, you didn’t quite know how to feel.
Ultimately, it was a great result for Arsenal, even though the elation was slightly soured by Jeremy Doku’s incredible last-ditch equaliser.
Still, the draw meant the title was back in the Gunners’ hands with just three matches to play ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid.
It was a shame in some respects that Everton could not have held onto victory, but the draw was still key to helping the champions over the line.
West Ham 0-1 Arsenal – May 10, 2026
There were plenty of other games – Everton and Fulham at home – that could have made the cut from the run-in, but this victory tops the lot.
It was a rather drab game at the London Stadium, but it will be remembered for the unprecedented drama in stoppage time after Leandro Trossard’s late goal broke the deadlock.
West Ham thought they’d equalised through Callum Wilson, which would have been a monstrous goal for the Hammers’ survival aspirations, but the strike was correctly ruled out following a foul by Pablo on David Raya.
City desperately needed Arsenal to fluff their lines after scoring three goals past Brentford but the Gunners overcame another big hurdle in east London, by that point, they were starting to look somewhat unstoppable given how close they were to the finish line.
