Arsenal’s 25/26 Premier League season has been shaped by a feeling they know too well: being close enough to touch glory, but not yet close enough to hold it.
For the past 3 seasons, Mikel Arteta’s side have lived near the summit of English football.
They have raised the standards at the Emirates and turned themselves from hopeful challengers into genuine title contenders. Yet all three times, they fell short and finished second.
This season, however, Arsenal have a different feeling around them. Sitting at the top of the table for over 200 days, the Gunners had gained a 12-point lead.
With other teams being inconsistent, Arsenal made sure they were consistently picking up points, even in scrappy and tight games.
In 2nd place, though, was Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City, the team that beat Arsenal to the title 2 out of 3 times that they finished second.
In the last few months, Arsenal ended up dropping points in several games that they were expected to win, while Manchester City chased down the lead to only 5 points with a game in hand.
On Sunday, with 3 games to go, Arsenal faced West Ham United.
A team fighting to secure the title vs a team threatened by relegation. On paper, it should have been an easy win for Arsenal, looking at the quality of players in both teams.
But on the pitch, it was a different story, with West Ham battling to stay up, they gave it their all.
It was a tight game, with both teams having chances to score but neither converting. A 0-0 draw would have been a poor result for both teams; it would have put Arsenal within City’s reach, possibly pushing them 2nd on goal difference if City were to win their game in hand. While for West Ham, it would not have brought them out of the relegation zone.
In the 83rd minute of the game, Arteta’s problem-solver Trossard scored, putting Arsenal in the lead with only minutes to go.
In the 95th minute, West Ham got a corner from which they scored. But to their misfortune, it was controversially ruled out by VAR because of an apparent foul on the Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
Arsenal managed to survive the remaining minutes after the disallowed goal, taking the 3 points home.
But the late goal scare was a reminder for Arsenal about just how close the margins are, this late in the season. This Arsenal squad has always fallen short in the final push of the race, crumbling under pressure season after season.
This pressure has been on Arsenal players for months now, but Sunday showed that it is no longer just being felt by those on the pitch. It is now being felt by everyone connected to the club, including the families of the players watching from the stands and at home.
After the game, Sophia Havertz, wife of Arsenal forward Kai Havertz, summed up the emotion of the afternoon perfectly. Reacting to the late drama, she commented on an Instagram posting, joking that she ‘might need to see a cardiologist’.
Sophia has been alongside Havertz for years, from his time before Arsenal to his move across London and into life under Arteta. The pair have been together since 2018, got engaged in 2023, married in July 2024, and welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in March 2025.
She has been with Havertz for almost his entire career, supporting him through the ups and downs of his career. But now going into one of the most intense title races of his career. Sophia is not just watching the pressure from a distance. She is living it closely, alongside him.
Sophia’s comment was light-hearted, but one that captured the mood around Arsenal’s season
For supporters, the feeling was instantly relatable. Arsenal did not just win a football match. They survived one.
At this stage of the campaign, survival can feel just as important as performance. The three points were all that mattered, but the way they arrived only added to the growing tension around the title race.
Everyone knows that Manchester City are still close behind. They know that one mistake could change everything.
They know that the story of their season will not be judged by how long they stayed at the top, or how big their lead once was, but by whether they are still there when the final whistle of the campaign blows.
To the fans and families of players, it is not just about one match against West Ham. It is about months of pressure building towards a final stretch where every second feels significant.
The title race has reached the point where even those closest to the players cannot hide the stress. They are watching history, pressure, fear, hope and heartbreak all collide in real time, hoping their partners come out on top at the end of the season.
The nerves are everywhere now. In the stands. On social media. In the dressing room. And, apparently, even in the comments section.
The Gunners got away with one against West Ham. But with only two games left, there is no escaping the pressure anymore.
REFERENCES:
(1) IDG on X: “Istri Kai Havertz, Sophia: ‘Saya mungkin perlu ke Cardiologist (ahli kardiologi atau dokter spesialis jantung dan pembuluh darah).’ Couldn’t agree more 😂 https://t.co/vB7WRJGT8W” / X. (n.d.). X (Formerly Twitter). https://x.com/IDGoonerscom/status/2053773570585792888?s=20
Trotter, S. (2026, May 10). VAR dramatically intervenes in Arsenal vs West Ham clash to rule out late goal. Daily Mirror. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-var-west-ham-raya-37137015
