ARSENAL 0-2 ASTON VILLA: The Gunners saw their hopes of lifting the Premier League title handed a brutal blow at the Emirates against former boss Unai Emery

The mark of true champions is being able to handle the pressure.

And one-by-one they crumbled. First Liverpool, then Arsenal lost their nerve as Mikel Arteta could not take advantage of what could be a pivotal weekend in the title race. It was Gary Lineker who made the famous quote. "Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."

You can update that. "Twenty-two men chase a ball for nine months and at the end, Manchester City always win." Pep Guardiola's men applied the pressure by thrashing Luton on Saturday to go top of the table for the first time since November - and neither of their rivals were able to respond.

In fact, they both fell apart. City have the know-how, experience and now suddenly look favourites to win a fourth title in a row. By comparison, Arsenal looked tired, flat and short of ideas. Arsenal defenders Gabriel, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all poor but they were equally lacklustre up front.

Why Arteta chose to tinker with his line-up formation is anyone's guess. Leandro Trossard came into midfield and it just did not work. They look unbalanced and toothless in attack. Trossard came as close to scoring as any Arsenal player but his point blank effort was saved by Villa keeper Martinez's toe in an even first half.

But Arsenal could not hold their nerve and, having surrendered in last season's title race, you cannot help but feel that will come back to haunt them again. Now they have to go to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday and if they lose in the second leg and go out then their season will be in serious danger of falling apart.

Arsenal's title chances are now not in their own hands ( Image:

When things are nip and tuck, more experienced teams hold their nerve. They keep their composure and find a way. Arsenal got frustrated and then blew it. Arsenal actually played well in the first half when Martin Odegaard was superb. But sixty seconds of play underlined how tight it was.

Gabriel's poor clearance hit Zinchenko, the ball fell to Watkins whose shot hit the inside of the post. Arsenal raced up the other end, Gabriel Jesus's low cross found Trossard who would have scored had he put the ball anywhere else but Martrinez saved superbly with his toe.

But make no mistake, if it was 50-50 in the first half, it was all Villa after the break. Villa boss Unai Emery, who has long since proved his point after his unhappy 18 month spell in charge at the Emirates, set up his team brilliantly and Arsenal could not find a way through.

Arsenal had a huge let-off after 62 minutes when Zinchenko's weak challenge did not stop Youri Tielemans and the Villa midfielder's shot crashed first against the crossbar and then the post. The breakthrough came after 84 minutes. Lucas Digne's low cross split the Arsenal defence, Gabriel was outmuscled, Saliba let it go and Bailey fired in at the back post.

Three minutes later, Tielemans' long ball forward sprung Watkins who ran from inside his own half, kept his nerve and showed great composure before dinking the ball past Arsenal keeper David Raya.