After beating Manchester United, Mikel Arteta lauded his Arsenal players for “opening the box of dreams” and ensuring they will contend for the title on the last day. He also believed their biggest opponents, Tottenham, may beat Manchester City on Tuesday to aid them.
Leandro Trossard’s 20th-minute goal put Arsenal one point ahead of City on 86 points. Should Arsenal draw the champions, their three-goal advantage would give them the edge on the final day. City play West Ham on Sunday and Arsenal play Everton at home, so Arteta’s team can still compete.
Arteta was questioned if Spurs could help his team. He remarked, “Hopefully they can do it – any team can beat any team – we need a result.” “We opened that box of dreams to live the final day of the season in front of our people. It’s part of our journey to live that moment.
“We wanted to open that door today. Have one of our most wonderful days together and see what happens. Football offers endless opportunities.
We’ve only won twice at Old Trafford in 20 years because we know it’s hard. I think the goal hurt us after we started well.”
Kai Havertz, Trossard’s winner creator, echoed his boss. “I will be Tottenham’s biggest fan ever. Hope for the best, he said.
United lost nine times at home in all competitions, their most since being demoted in 1973-74. They are seventh, thus they may need to beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final to qualify for Europe. We questioned Erik ten Hag if he could have done better this season.
“Any manager can, but with two years here, I have only had one full group of players,” he remarked. You can’t grow a team in vital areas with so many injuries; it’s like swimming with your hands on your back; we strive to keep our head above water.
“We are still in the Cup final. But if you want to progress a team, you need fit guys, and our opponent today had only one not-quite-fit player while we had so many.” Ten Hag said no European football would be “very damaging”.
After Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour party leader, met with Sir Jim Ratcliffe to discuss Old Trafford’s regeneration, United lost.
