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Remember earlier in the season when I mentioned an insanely talented 15-year-old waiting at the fringes of Arsenal’s first team squad? Well, this weekend the now-16-year-old Max Dowman stamped his mark on the title race. While both the men’s and women’s teams enjoyed an outstanding weekend, Dowman’s dramatic arrival headlines the recap. Things have been getting tense for the Arsenal men. Regardless of recent outcomes, Mikel Arteta’s side have made precious few matches look easy. The attack has been ponderous. The defense, while still the best in the Premier League by 6 goals, has become increasingly leaky. And the depth of the squad has been tested by injuries to Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Ricardo Calafiore, and Kai Havertz. With strategic buys by Manchester City in January, the pressure on Arsenal mounts. City’s acquisition of two of the best Premier League players playing outside the “Big Six” has supercharged the team’s push to catch the Gunners. Former Bournemouth standout Antoine Semenyo has been scoring for fun since arriving at the Etihad. Meanwhile, Mark Guehi, the rock in Crystal Palace’s run to the FA Cup title last season, has solidified a shaky City defense. With that in mind, entering the weekend Arsenal led City by seven points in the standings, with City down a match, and a showdown at the Etihad scheduled for mid-April. Arsenal certainly had the trickier fixture. The visit of Arteta’s former side and manager (Everton and David Moyes) has been a frustrating matchup the past couple of seasons. They managed a 1-0 victory earlier this season, but had to settle for two draws against the Toffees last season (including a nil-nil at the Emirates). City’s task appeared much easier with a trip to 18th place West Ham United. The Arsenal vs. Everton match found Arsenal struggling in the second half to break a nil-nil deadlock against a modestly-talented but persistent and well-organized opponent. Enter Max Dowman in the 74th minute. Dowman’s substitution into the match was notable for a few reasons: The situation was tense, with Arsenal in position to drop two points in the title race With the attack struggling, Arteta clearly saw Dowman as a match winner Bringing a 16-year-old attacker on for holding midfielder Martin Zubamendi would have resulted in never-ending recriminations had the outcome been different. From the moment he entered, however, an unfazed Dowman rose to the gravity of the occasion, dribbling, passing, and shooting aggressively. About 15 minutes into his appearance, his towering cross from the right flank fooled Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to find its way to Piero Hincapie deep in the box. The Ecuadoran (probably anticipating that Pickford would make contact) likely didn’t realize what came next, but the ball rebounded off him into the path of the onrushing Viktor Gyokeres, who slotted home the easiest goal he’ll likely score in Arsenal colors. One-nil to the Arsenal because the kid was aggressive and it worked out. The stadium breathed a collective sigh of relief and hunkered down to wait out the six minutes of stoppage time that stood between them and victory. A momentous play for a 16-year-old who hasn’t seen much action since September due to an ankle injury. As it turned out, Dowman had another trick up his sleeve. In the final minute of stoppage time, Everton had a corner that made Arsenal supporters around the world extremely anxious. Would victory slip through our fingers? As it turned out, no. Here’s what happened next (with credit to @takaharu_osako on IG). Two-nil to the Arsenal on a runaway from the youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League. And just like that, title momentum shifted firmly to North London. Throw in that City, clearly spooked by Arsenal’s late win, looked terrible at the London Stadium, only managing a draw against West Ham. A weekend that started seven points clear with nerves frayed ended nine points to the good –and with the arrival of a new hero. (If you want something else to dream on, after Saka, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, and Dowman, there’s another high potential star, Luis Munoz , on the way in a year or two. Yes, he’s only 14, but given the recent track record at the Hale End Academy, you should probably keep him on your radar.) A Familiar Scoreline and Result for City On most other weekends, the women would have earned top billing following a spectacular weekend of their own. Granted, London City isn’t exactly a fearsome opponent, and an element of cruise control from Renee Sleger’s side might not have made for the best watch party. (Disappointingly, Loudoun Soccer’s women’s watch party at Anchor Bar was cancelled following a reschedule to 7:55 AM Eastern.) Earlier in the season, the women were making hard work of weaker opponents after draws with Spurs and Aston Villa before Christmastime. A confident 2-0 win over London City, on the heels of a 3-0 win over Bristol City and 7-1 on aggregate against Leuven, feels like solid momentum. After a relatively slow start to her Arsenal career, Olivia Smith has been picking up steam in the goalscoring department. To make things better, Manchester City drew with Aston Villa and Tottenham lost to Everton in matches that City and Spurs would have been expected to win. With Chelsea and Manchester United still to play (Brighton and West Ham, respectively), Arsenal are in solid shape heading into the home stretch. They may be 11 points behind City in the standings but Arsenal have two matches in hand and an easier schedule. The Arsenal women still face: West Ham (H) Tottenham (H) Aston Villa (A) Leicester City (H) Everton (H) Brighton (A) Liverpool (A) They should be favored to win all seven of those matches. City’s run-in looks like this: Tottenham (H) Manchester United (A) Brighton (A) Liverpool (H) West Ham (A) While City may be favored to win each, the match with United is, by far, the most challenging match-up left for either side. If Arsenal do their business and City slip up against their cross-town rivals, all it will take is one more slip for Arsenal to have a chance to pip City to the title. Is it a great chance? No, is it a lot more likely than it was a few weeks ago? Absolutely! What’s Next? The women host West Ham at the Emirates on Saturday the 21st at 8 AM Eastern before hosting Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League Quarter Final. The men host Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday in the return leg of their Champions League Round of 16 match-up (currently tied 1-1 after the leg in Germany), followed by the League Cup Final against Manchester City next Sunday at 12:30 Eastern. This Sunday’s Loudoun Soccer watch party at Anchor Bar is a lock, with a 12:30 PM kick off and Arsenal-themed raffles and giveaways from Club partner Soccer Post!

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Happy St. Totteringham’s Day to all who celebrate! For those unfamiliar with this most joyous of holidays, St. Totteringham’s Day marks that day in the Premier League season where Arsenal’s North London rivals Spurs are mathematically eliminated from finishing ahead of Arsenal in the standings. Schadenfreude aside, the past week and a half has seen a rollercoaster of emotions for the Arsenal men, starting with a mid-week trip to Wolves, who have been courting the worst record in Premier League history. Arsenal went up 2-0 in the driving Midlands rain and then came apart. A 2-0 lead somehow ended in a 2-2 draw “highlighted” by terrible miscommunication between David Raya and Gabriel that resulted in a Wolves equalizer. After three consecutive seasons of finishing second, it doesn’t take much to get the fans and media focused on the narrative that Arsenal don’t have a “championship mentality,” and dropping points at the Molineux poured gasoline on that particular fire. So a trip across North London last weekend sparked trepidation in all corners of Arsenal fandom, despite the fact that Spurs, abject for most of the season, have yet to win a Premier League match in 2026. You’d think defeating your chief rivals 4-1 at their home stadium would steady frayed nerves,but instead the narrative shifted from “it’s a big rivalry and Arsenal could slip up” to “Tottenham have been terrible so beating them doesn’t really mean much”. While the latter was probably the most realistic way to look at a team struggling as mightily as Spurs have been, the same could have been said about Wolves (see result above). Which brings us to last weekend and our match with 6th place Chelsea at the Emirates. The Blues are a hard side to figure. While they certainly have talent and they’re sitting in the top six of the league, it’s hard to escape the sense that they are only playing at about 75% of their capability. Is it because they switch managers with approximately the same frequency that responsible car owners get their oil changed? Is it because their squad is so overpacked with young players that they can’t establish any rhythm? I don’t know. What I do know is that they’re exceptional at collecting red cards, which would prove decisive for the Gunners. To set the stage for the match, Manchester City had already prevailed in unimpressive fashion over Leeds United, bringing City within two points of the Gunners at the top of the table with the same number of matches played. The pressure was on Mikel Arteta’s men to match City and restore their 5 point lead (albeit with one more match played than City). Those following Arsenal this season will know that their skill at set pieces, especially corner kicks, has been extraordinary. Once again–for the ninth time this season–the men opened the scoring through a set piece. Bukayo Saka sent a fantastic corner to the far post where Gabriel headed back across the net to find William Saliba, who nodded it home. Despite a lack of scoring opportunities and a slightly better Chelsea side, the power of Arsenal’s set piece game made the difference: all it takes is winning a corner and a moment of brilliance to reset the flow of the match. It seemed like Arsenal would maintain their slim margin going into halftime but, in an ironic twist, they were victimized on a corner kick just before the halftime whistle. To make things worse, an Arsenal defender, Piero Hincapie, headed the ball into his own trying to clear Reese James’ delivery. I saw a couple of replays and I’m still not sure how it went wrong. Hincapie got a good jump and wasn’t impeded. Unfortunately, rather than nodding it away from the goal, it flicked just enough in the wrong direction to angle it past Raya for a deflating 1-1 scoreline at the half. When the match resumed after the halftime break, Arsenal were the better side, but it was once again the corner kick routine to the rescue. This time it was Declan Rice delivering to Jurrien Timber on the other end for the winner. Wondering if I am going to get around to the bit about Chelsea having the most red cards in the league by far this season? Why, yes, yes I am. About three minutes after Timber’s goal, Pedro Neto hacked down substitute Gabriel Martinelli as he was racing down the sideline, a clear yellow card which added to the one Neto had picked up previously for dissent. For the next 20 minutes, it was smooth sailing for Arsenal with the extra man running out the clock. The Blues created some anxious moments in extra time, but Arsenal made it over the finish line to restore their five-point lead in the table. Champions League Draw In-between matches, the Arsenal men also learned their fate for the knockout stages of the Champions League. The news could hardly have been better. Unlike previous seasons where there is a new draw after each knockout round, this year UEFA released the entire knockout bracket at once. Arsenal’s first knockout opponent, Bayer Leverkusen, is a solid side, but hardly one of the more daunting opponents remaining. If they advance, they’ll face the winner of Bodo/Glimt and Sporting Lisbon. The semi-final of the “Blue Bracket” would be against the team that emerges from Barcelona vs. Newcastle United and Atletico Madrid and Tottenham. The really good news is that Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, and Chelsea are all on the other side of the bracket. This means that Arsenal will only have to face whichever of those clubs makes it through the gauntlet of the “Silver Bracket”. Women’s Team Update You’ll note that there hasn’t been much about the women’s team in this particular update, mostly because there hasn’t been much going on with the women over the past few weeks. They haven’t had a match in the WSL since my last post; they did play one match in the Women’s FA Cup which they won over Bristol City 3-0 to move into the Quarterfinals of that competition. They also had a home-and-home series with OH Leuven in the Champions League which will see them on to the Quarterfinals of that competition as well. The WSL campaign resumes this coming weekend with Arsenal traveling across the city to face Michelle Kang’s London City Lionesses. We’ll be hosting a watch party at the Anchor Bar on Sunday, March 15th at Noon to mark the occasion. We hope you’ll join us there and celebrate all of the positive news coming out of Arsenal this season.

Congratulations Mackenzie Hayes of Loudoun 2014G White, our Patient First Athlete of the Month for February 2026!

The excitement of the previous week–featuring a trophy for the women, and the men extending their lead at the top of the Premier League–was going to be hard to top. But still, the follow up week came within 10 minutes of being as good as it possibly could have been for the red side of North London. Men’s League Carabao Cup Semi-Final (2nd Leg) On the heels of the women’s Champion’s Cup win, the Arsenal men inched closer to their first trophy since 2020. On Tuesday, local rivals Chelsea arrived at the Emirates trailing the two-legged League Cup semi-final 3-2. The Blues needed to overcome their one-goal deficit or it would be off to Wembley for Mikel Arteta and the Gunners in mid-March. For a side trailing on aggregate, Chelsea and new manager Liam Rosenior chose an odd approach. For the first 60 minutes of the match or so, they played five at the back in an apparent effort to ensure that Arsenal didn’t stretch the lead any further. If the Blues had been ahead, taking the air out of the match would have made all the sense in the world. Even if it had been tied up, I can see the logic in playing it safe for sixty minutes on the road and then switching up personnel for a sprint to the finish line in the last 30 minutes. Whatever the thinking, with Chelsea down, their tactic achieved its ostensible goal–there weren’t many chances for either side for the first two thirds of the match. At that point, Rosenior introduced Cole Palmer and Estevao in an attempt to draw level and either get a late winner or force extra time. Rather than the desired result, what Rosenior discovered was that Arsenal’s defense was still strong, and leaving his best attacking line-up only 30 minutes to achieve a breakthrough wasn’t nearly enough. The Blues had to content themselves with long-range, off target shots for most of the time that Palmer and Estevao remained on the pitch together. A weak header that finally made it on target six minutes into stoppage time made an easy save for Kepa. To add insult to injury, the Spanish netminder’s distribution was spot on and led to the release of Kai Havertz, who sprinted past the Chelsea defense and slotted home against his former team to secure the match and a trip to Wembley. Back to Premier League Action Saturday’s match against Sunderland at the Emirates was once again trickier than anyone would have expected when the season kicked off. When Arsenal visited the Stadium of Light earlier in the campaign, the Black Cats rescued a draw late, and have been without question the surprise package of the league so far. Fortunately, old friend Granit Xhaka was not fit for the tie, and Sunderland were just a bit off of the heights they’d achieved over the first half of the season. While not terribly dangerous, the Black Cats were playing tough defense and it wasn’t until nearly halftime when Leandro Trossard found David Zubamendi just outside the box. The Spanish number 6 isn’t known for his goal-scoring prowess, but he struck the ball true to the goalkeeper’s short side, hitting the inside of the post and ricocheting in for Arsenal’s favorite scoreline (1-nil to the Arsenal) going into halftime. The second half started slow for the home side, with things picking up when Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres came on for Noni Madueke and Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal brought the ball up the left side of the attack as Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz looked for an opportunity. German Havertz found his way into the box and slotted the ball to Gyokeres, who powered it home as he was being dragged down. It was a rare meaningful goal in the Premier League for the Swede and one that will certainly do his confidence a world of good. Sunderland continued to drive forward after conceding the second but couldn’t find their way through. Finally, Arsenal sprang a fast break late with David Raya finding Martinelli who sprinted past the Sunderland defense and laid the ball to Gyokeres for a tap-in to sew up the result. As an added bonus, Aston Villa, sitting in 3rd place seven points behind Arsenal headed into the weekend, blew an early 1-0 lead to Bournemouth and had to settle for a single point. I don’t think anyone really suspects that Villa are a real contender for the title, but it’s still nice to see any close challenger fading back. So Saturday wrapped up with Arsenal leading both City and Villa by 9 points, with City still facing Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. The Women Continue to Build Momentum Another Manchester City team, the WSL-leading women, arrived at the Emirates. Coming off their Champions Cup win and the WSL victory over Chelsea last week, anything seemed possible for the Arsenal women. That said, the City side had run off 13 straight wins in the WSL after losing their season opener. As a fairly even match throughout without many strong looks, even the single goal didn’t look like a great chance. Olivia Smith had a lot of work to do, passing a City defender to catch up to the through ball that she corralled and slotted home after rounding Yamashita in the City net. That goal came in the 16th minute, and–commendably–Arsenal didn’t just try to hang on for a 1-0 win. While they didn’t score again, neither did they go into a shell, playing a back-and-forth match for the remaining minutes before emerging victorious. With back-to-back wins over reigning champions Chelsea and presumptive champions Manchester City, Arsenal have to be in a great frame of mind heading into the back half of their WSL and Champions League campaign. As the Citizens are still 10 points clear of Arsenal in the WSL standings, it is probably not reasonable to expect them to win the league. They have, however, drawn within a point of Chelsea and two points of Manchester United and, perhaps most importantly, gone three points clear of Spurs in fifth. A second place finish seems within reach, which isn’t exactly the trajectory just two weeks ago. City Spoil The Men’s Perfect Weekend Late Yes, I’ve spoiled the outcome of the City vs Liverpool match. Was I expecting City to drop points at Liverpool? Not really. The most disappointing aspect of the result was that Liverpool managed to frustrate City for 84 minutes. They even scored a Dominik Szoboszlai wondergoal from a set piece to karmically, balance the one he scored against us earlier in the season. Hopes rose that the Reds might do us a favor and win the match before a Erling Haaland flick drew the score level. Once City had the momentum on their side, there was a feeling of inevitability about the outcome. (One could probably argue about whether Allison’s tackle should be considered a penalty given that the attempt on net had already happened and failed, but there is little doubt that the Liverpool goalkeeper did foul Matheus Nunes in the box after his attempt.) Even in my desire for City to drop points, I can’t make the argument that this shouldn’t have been a penalty. As expected, City’s Norwegian goal-scoring machine slotted home the resulting penalty, and Pep’s side went home with a 2-1 win to stay within six points of Arsenal in the table.

In the average season, the winter months are frequently described as a “grind.” The warm weather of autumn has passed. Players are all feeling the strain of the unceasing schedule of training, matches, and travel across competitions domestic and European. The optimism of the season start is behind but the finish line still feels miles off. While it’s rare to have a celebratory week in winter, that is the rarified air that Arsenal have reached at all levels. This week brought amazing news and accomplishments for the women’s team, the men’s team, and even the youth ranks. Let’s dive in: The Women Roll The biggest headlines go to the women’s team. They started the week by beating Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.(The Blues aren’t at their dominating best this season but they have been a bogey club for Arsenal.) Any win over their arch-nemesis signals an uptick in performances in the WSL and should be applauded. The bigger story, though, is in the FIFA Champions Cup. The mini-tournament comprised the reigning champions of North America (Gotham), South America (Corinthians), Europe (Arsenal), and Asia (AS FAR). Midweek saw Arsenal beat AS FAR 6-0 in what could only be called a mismatch, but Sunday’s championship against Corinthians was no walk in the park. Corinthians supporters traveled loudly and in numbers to London to support their club, and the team responded. Arsenal went up 1-0, only to see Corinthians equalize. The Gunners went up again 2-1 and were once again pegged back. The match went to extra time, with Caitlin Foord scoring the decisive goal to win Arsenal the inaugural FIFA Champions Cup. A great accomplishment that should raise spirits as the women push forward in both the WSL and the Champions League (where the knockout stages will begin Arsenal’s defense of their title). Unexpected Help on the Men’s Side While the women were winning their second major trophy since May, the men started the week with a setback in their quest to win their first Premier League title in over 20 years. A chastening loss to Manchester United at the Emirates–offset by wins by Manchester City and Aston Villa–cut the lead at the top of the table to four points and (re)raised the question as to whether the men’s side have the mental fortitude to win the title. After a midweek Champions League match that didn’t matter much, it was off to Leeds, currently sitting in 16th place, for a fixture that pundits and supporters alike were more worried about than the opponents’ relative places in the table might lead you to believe. Despite the apprehension among the supporters, the match against Leeds was never really in doubt. The hosts barely mounted an attack while Arsenal scored two on either side of halftime with Zubamendi, Madueke, Gyokeres, and Gabriel Jesus providing the goals. While a minor injury to Bukayo Saka forced his withdrawal from the starting line-up, Madueke didn’t miss a beat, providing the cross for Zubamendi’s opener and the corner that went in for the second (although most places called it an own goal due to some comedic defending between Karl Darlow and Dominic Calvert-Lewin). Gyokeres getting on the scoresheet was also a huge sigh of relief, for the highly-scrutinized striker, even if it doesn’t change the fact that he’s struggled to adapt to his new surroundings. With three points in the bag, Mikel Arteta and the team had the luxury of watching Aston Villa and Manchester City try to keep pace on Sunday. Aston Villa’s opponent on the day had never beaten the Villans at Villa Park. Their prospects looked even bleaker when striker Kevin Schade was sent off for violent conduct in the 42nd minute with the score tied 0-0. Within a few minutes of the sending off, Dando Ouattara picked out the top far corner of the goal from an outrageous angle. Brentford hung on a man down for the entire second half for a win that was nice for them and huge for Arsenal. With the weekend already producing one pleasant surprise for Arsenal, on the other side of North London the Spurs hosted Manchester City at the Tottenham Stadium. Hopes were not high, with Spurs in a rotten run of form and City fortified with the recent acquisitions of Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth and Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace boosting the attack and defense respectively. The match got off to the expected start with City dominating and scoring twice in the first half. On the other side of halftime, however, something remarkable happened. Spurs actually mounted a dangerous attack. Dominic Solanke scored a gritty goal in the box in the 53rd minute to change the momentum of the match. In the 70th minute, he leveled the score with a crazy scorpion kick goal that has to be seen to be believed. It isn’t often that an Arsenal supporter will pull for Spurs, but they had me on the edge of my seat rooting for a 3rd for the final 20 minutes plus what seemed like interminable stoppage time. Despite any negative impact on my blood pressure while watching the final moments, Spurs pulled out the draw. A weekend that started with Arsenal supporters worrying about a gap that had closed to 4 points with City and Villa ended with a resounding win for Arsenal and a gap of six points to City in second and seven points to Villa in third. Adding in the Champions Cup trophy for the women, weekends don’t get much better than that. Dowman SIgns As icing on the cake, teen sensation Max Dowman signed an agreement with the club to remain at the only footballing home he’s known, returning after six weeks from an ankle injury. The newly-signed deal doesn’t take effect until Dowman’s 17th birthday on December 31st, but it will tie him to the club for the long term. Specific terms weren’t released, but five years is a typical duration and would presumably start with the 2027-28 season (which would have him contracted to Arsenal through 2032-2033). Given the potential he has already demonstrated, coming to an agreement now puts to rest any worry that he might have his head turned by a Real Madrid or a Barcelona. It’s also a good sign that the precocious talent is happy with his experience coming through the ranks at Arsenal, even if he hasn’t gotten a great deal of match time with the senior squad. Next Up Mid-week sees the men host Chelsea in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. The Gunners go into the match with a 3-2 lead. (The winner will face either Manchester City or Newcastle in the final, with the Citizens leading by 2-0 after the first leg.) The men host Sunderland at the Emirates when Premier League play resumes on Saturday. The women will host WSL-leading Manchester City on Sunday before traveling to Belgium to face Oh Leuven in the first knockout round of the Champions League. Best of luck to both teams!

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