Roy Keane claims Arsenal were “well short” from a fitness perspective as their title hopes were all-but ended against Brighton.
The Gunners have handed the initiative to rivals Manchester City in the race for the Premier League crown. Mikel Arteta’s side collapsed at home to Brighton on Sunday.
Julio Enciso, Denis Undav and Pervis Estupinan all scored in what was an utterly horrendous second-half showing. Their display had many scratching their heads but Keane was clear on what was the problem. He claimed that Arsenal did not look fit enough to compete with the in-form Seagulls at the Emirates Stadium.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the full-time whistle, he said: "We talked about Arsenal looking leggy. Earlier in the season people were saying it was good for Arsenal to be out of the cup competitions, but they looked like they were in every competition today. They looked leggy. Well short.”
His former Manchester United colleague Gary Neville agrees with the assessment that Arsenal were off their rhythm but has not put their problems down to fitness. Instead, he believes that Man City ’s victory over Everton earlier in the day impacted the Gunners more than anticipated.
Speaking on his own podcast, he said: "I just wonder the impact, the more I think about, that this would have had on those Arsenal players' legs. I think what we saw today was an Arsenal team that might have just got their hopes up with Everton after that performance against Brighton, at Goodison Park with City leaving a few players out.
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"Maybe they thought they could just get back into the title race today. When City have gone and won 3-0 that has obviously filtered through to the Arsenal players and had the impact on their legs that sometimes it does have.
“They have just been a bit deflated. Today, I think the reality of City winning at Everton has just hit them like a tonne of bricks."
Following Arsenal’s defeat, Man City are now just a maximum of one win away from claiming a third Premier League title in a row. The Gunners will no doubt be doing all they can to delay the inevitable over the coming weeks but a defeat to Nottingham Forest next time would officially end their challenge.
After that clash, the Gunners round off their season with a clash against Wolves on the final day of the campaign. Regardless of what happens over the next few games, Arteta’s side are guaranteed to finish at least second in the Premier League.
That would represent their best finish since the 2015/16 campaign, whilst the Gunners have accumulated their best points tally since the 2007/08 season.
