GUNNER BE BACK

Arteta's stars fall agonisingly short of title glory - but this isn't the end of challenge to City...it's only the start

- ANDY DUNN

IT was a warm enough day in London for the Premier League to sanction a mid-half drinks break.

Arsenal's glum-faced players might as well have had a pint.

If they did not know by the time they took a thirst-quencher, they soon found out.

Inside 20 minutes, Phil Foden, it seemed, had reduced a final-day title tussle to a formality and everyone inside the Emirates Stadium knew it. Or assumed it. And when Idrissa Gueye's free-kick was pretty much headed into his own net by Declan Rice technically, it goes down as a deflection - it was met with a collective shrug of resignation.

But you can add one more attribute to the list of qualities this Arsenal team possesses.

Defiance.

Defiance that surfaced through Takehiro Tomiyasu's well-taken equaliser and grew when news of the Mohammed Kudus worldie in Manchester filtered through.

Defiance that came from the stands, albeit falsely flamed by fake news of a West Ham equaliser before the break at the Etihad. Defiance that roared theatrically when Kai Havertz knocked in a late winner.