Arsenal beat Newcastle 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Eberechi Eze scoring the only goal to give the hosts a vital victory.
Mikel Arteta, who described the match as "game one," said he was pleased with the result: "I'm really happy for the win," and added that "we had to do what was in our hands and we discussed that." The three points moved Arsenal three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
The numbers underline why this small-margin victory mattered. Opta now gives Arsenal a 72.44% chance of winning the title and Manchester City a 27.56% chance. Manchester City had gone top on goals scored midweek when they beat Burnley, leaving the two clubs level on points and goal difference before Arsenal's game.
Saturday's scoreline also ended a brief wobble for Arsenal: they had suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season before facing Newcastle. That detail made the win both a relief and a reset, and Arteta framed it as the first of a sequence he wants his team to control. "We talked about 'game one' and how important that was. We did the job," he said.
The title race still contains frictions that the result did not erase. Arsenal can move six points clear of Manchester City if they beat Fulham at the Emirates next week, but City will still have the advantage of two games in hand after Arsenal's next league match if they play Everton on 4 May. In short: Arsenal have taken the lead, but Manchester City's schedule gives them potential routes back into the contest.
Arteta acknowledged the career-long weight of expectation on the club chasing a first league title in 22 years and refused to sugarcoat the path ahead. "I don't expect, after 22 years of not winning it, that it's going to be a path of roses and beautiful music around it," he said. "It's going to be like this and we are ready for it." He also admitted the margin was narrower than he would have liked: "We wanted bigger margins. It's not been possible but we certainly have done the job."
Former striker Glenn Murray, watching Arsenal's performance, offered a blunt appraisal of the team's effort: "Arsenal have given absolutely everything on that pitch," he said, adding: "You can't question their fight." Those assessments captured the overriding theme of the day — a gritty, controlled win rather than a dominant statement.
Last week Arsenal lost to Manchester City and midfielder Declan Rice's words that "it's not done" went viral; Saturday's result was a quick answer to that challenge but not a definitive one. Arteta insisted the focus remains narrow and practical: "Game one is in our hands, what we do and how we approach the game. Are we able to win it? We've done it."
The decisive question now is immediate and specific: Arteta has put the next match squarely in his players' control — if Arsenal beat Fulham next week they will sit six points clear — and the manager has framed success as a sequence of small, winnable tasks. How his side performs in that next task will tell whether Saturday was the start of a title run or merely a necessary response in a still-open race.
