Arsenal have not won the Premier League in nearly 20 years, but have had some close affairs since the days of the Invincibles.
One such moment came on February 14th 2016, in a season where Arsenal found themselves outperforming their traditional rivals, but competing with Leicester City at the top of the table.
Leicester had embarked on a miracle run to make themselves title challengers, having narrowly escaped relegation the season before, and they went into a top-of-the-table clash at the Emirates Stadium five points clear of Arsene Wenger’s side.
Arsenal knew that they had to win to keep their title hopes alive, but given that Leicester had lost just twice all season prior to the game, it was never going to be easy.
Arsenal’s dramatic turnaround against Leicester
A penalty from Jamie Vardy at the end of the first half meant that Arsenal went into the break eight points behind Claudio Ranieri’s team, and had to dig in to save their hopes of the title.
A red card for Leicester defender Danny Simpson meant that Arsenal had both the home advantage and a man advantage, and Theo Walcott equalised 15 minutes later to send the Emirates into a frenzy.
A draw would have been unacceptable given that Leicester were down to 10 men, but despite strong performances from Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud, it appeared that Arsenal were set for frustration.
A miracle then arrived in the form of Danny Welbeck. The attacker had been absent with injury for the entirety of the campaign, but made his return as a substitute for Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, and he made the perfect comeback.
With the clock well beyond 94 minutes, Arsenal had an indirect free-kick, which was their last chance to snatch a victory. Ozil then floated a perfect cross in, which Welbeck rose to head home and send the Emirates Stadium into raptures.
The aftermath of Arsenal’s victory over Leicester City
Anyone leaving the stadium that day, with Arsenal on a wave of confidence and just two points behind top spot, would have backed the Gunners to use the momentum from the win to spur themselves onto the title.
However, they did anything but. The next game saw them travel to an injury-ravaged Manchester United, and fell to a 3-2 defeat, with Marcus Rashford netting a brace on his Premier League debut.
Defeat at home against Swansea City followed, with the Emirates crowd’s mood unrecognisable from the Leicester win just weeks before. Arsenal then rescued a point in the North London Derby when reduced to 10, but they could feel their title charge slipping away.
Welbeck’s goal looked destined to become an iconic, title-turning moment which would go down as legendary in an Arsenal title win. Instead, Arsenal finished second, with the memories of the Englishman’s goal now bittersweet.
Reiss Nelson’s goal against Bournemouth last season may be viewed in a similar manner, as a dramatic, last-minute comeback winner which should have propelled the team to the title, and eight years after Welbeck’s header, the Gunners are still yet to taste league glory when that was arguably the best chance to reclaim their spot as the best in the land.
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