Arteta Stays Cautious: “Nothing Is Finished in the Premier League”
The Arsenal manager refused to declare the Premier League title race over despite his side’s victory against West Ham and their five-point lead over Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta took a huge step toward winning the Premier League after Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over West Ham in a tense London derby. However, despite the Gunners now holding a five-point advantage over Manchester City with only two matches remaining — although City still have a game in hand — the Spanish manager insisted that the title race is far from over.
“No, no. Nothing is finished. It’s still not certain whether we are going to win the Premier League or not,” Arteta said after the match. “We still have two more games to play and in this league anything can happen. The only thing we can control is our performance and mentality.”
Arsenal secured a crucial win thanks to Leandro Trossard’s goal in the 83rd minute in a match filled with tension until the final moments. West Ham thought they had equalized in stoppage time through Callum Wilson, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR review determined that Pablo Felipe had committed a foul on goalkeeper David Raya in the buildup.
Arteta fully supported the referee’s decision and praised both referee Chris Kavanagh and the VAR team for having the courage to disallow the goal during such a decisive moment in the title race.
“For me, it was the correct decision. It was a foul and everyone could see it. In these situations, the goalkeeper has to be protected,” the Arsenal boss explained.
The Spaniard also highlighted the enormous responsibility referees face when making game-changing calls under intense pressure.
“Today I realized the huge responsibility referees have when they are in that position and must make decisions that can change the direction of one of the teams. It was a massive decision,” he added. Arteta also reserved special praise for goalkeeper David Raya, who produced several crucial saves, including a key one-on-one stop against Pablo Felipe in the second half.
“If you want to win major titles, you need magical moments, and David created them today,” Arteta said. He also praised Martin Odegaard, whose assist allowed Trossard to score what could become one of Arsenal’s most important goals in recent years.
Despite Arsenal’s advantage over Manchester City, Arteta continues to preach calm and focus as the North London club edges closer to a historic first Premier League title since 2004.
