Two comebacks for the price of one
Arsenal's comeback on Saturday began long before they took to the field at Villa Park. After being beaten by Manchester City the club was at its lowest ebb this season. The Emirates has been a brimming cauldron of noise until the dying embers of matches this season, but by full-time on Wednesday it was quiet and emptied. The players trudged off the pitch dejected with the sense was that they had been roundly beaten. Mikel Arteta though, saw things differently.
After a battling press conference in which he insisted his side "really had" City, he called his players in at London Colney on Thursday to rewatch sections of the game. In this session the Spaniard illustrated how they had matched and, on occasion, even bettered Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side, before losing out in the decisive moments in each box. The message was clear - if they kept playing that way and ironed out the kinks, then the results would eventually follow. It was with this reaffirmation of their capabilities that a fatigued Gunners squad made the trip to Villa Park knowing that only a victory would realistically do to revive their dwindling title charge.
