Arsenal defeated Man United 1-0 on Sunday at Old Trafford to keep their chances of winning the Premier League title alive. It was a scrappy win in which Arsenal were clearly not playing their best but managed to just eke past their opponents.
Leandro Trossard’s early goal from a Kai Havertz right-wing cross put Arsenal ahead in the 20th minute and ended up being the game-winner.
Amad Diallo, making his first start of the season, offered a threat on the other end for Man United, almost securing a penalty in the first half. The challenge from Partey was waved away however and United never got a better chance for an equalizer.
This was Arsenal’s 11th shutout away from home this season, which is five ahead of City who have only managed 6. Arsenal’s defense has clearly been their strong suit this year, with Saliba and Gabriel partnering terrifically in the back field.
Arsenal will host Everton on the final day of the season and City will be at home for their game against West Ham, both on Sunday, 19 May. No team has ever come back from second place to win the championship on the final day, so much will be at stake as Arsenal cheer for their rivals Tottenham on Tuesday.
What’s in favour of Arsenal is that City have only won once in six visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tottenham however have been on a big downswing as of late, winning only one of their last 5 matches. Expect City to be massive favorites going in but an early goal by Tottenham could bring back old fears from the venue.
Should there be a tie between Arsenal and City, the league is decided on goal difference, then goals scored, then most points in the head-to-head matches, then most away goals in the head-to-head record.
If Arsenal don’t win the title this year the one result they will likely regret is their home loss to Aston Villa on 14 April. It was a game they were huge favourites to take but now is not the time to dwell on that setback.
Bayer Leverkusen Push Undefeated Streak to 50
Bayer Leverkusen destroyed Bochum to bring up a half-century of unbeaten matches across all competitions. They scored 5 goals in total from five different boots: P. Schick, V. Boniface, A. Adli, J. Stanišić and Alex Grimaldo.
Patrik Schick started it all with a crisp strike and Victor Boniface followed with a penalty a few minutes later to put Leverkusen in a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Amine Adli added a third in the second half via a header from a corner and then there were a couple late add-on goals by Josip Stanisic and Alex Grimaldo.
If Leverkusen can avoid defeat in their final league game this season against Augsburg next Saturday at home, they will become the first team to go through a Bundesliga campaign without losing. The only team to have come close was Bayern Munich who lost just once in their 1986-87 and 2012-13 titles.
The Bundesliga champions will go on to face Italian side Atalanta in the Europa League final in Dublin on 22 May. They will then play in the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern in Berlin on 25 May.
The last time Leverkusen lost a game was all the way back in May 2023. Their opponents were actually Bochum, who were able to beat them 3-0 at Vonovia Ruhrstadion on the final day of the 2022-23 Bundesliga season.
The unbeaten run started with an 8-0 victory over FC Teutonia Ottensen in the German Cup on August 12, 2023 and became the longest streak ever with Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw against Roma in the Europa League last Thursday.
The streak involves 33 Bundesliga games, five German Cup matches and 12 Europa League games. Leverkusen have won 40 of these matches.
The longest runs recorded by European clubs since in the past 50 years are:
| Team | Country | Games Unbeaten | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bayer Leverkusen | Germany | 50 | 2023/24 |
| Benefica | Portugal | 48 | 1963/64 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | Croatia | 45 | 2014/15 |
| Rijeka | Croatia | 45 | 2016/17 |
| Rangers | Scotland | 44 | 1992/93 |
