By the time Kai Havertz had headed the Leandro Trossard cross over the bar in stoppage time, the story had been written. Sunday night's television coverage moved from the final whistle to the Panic on the streets of London banner that Manchester City supporters unfurled across the South Stand, and most of the national press filed copy before the players had left the pitch. Manchester City had won and the title, we were told, had City’s name etched on it.

This is not only the media and the pundits and rival fans writing us off. I see a lot of Arsenal fans who have given up already, and parts of the reactive, outrage-driven fan media like AFTV are already calling for Arteta to be sacked if we fail to win the title this season.

Everyone is, however, ignoring the most important thing — the table. We have 70 points and are three points clear of City with five games remaining. Our goal difference of plus 37 is one better than theirs. We sit at the top of the league, a week out from a Champions League semi-final first leg in Madrid, against the side we beat 4-0 at the Emirates in October.

On the evidence of ninety minutes at the Etihad, where we had the higher expected goals, hit the post twice, and had a clear red card denied on Khusanov, there is no reason to believe that we can’t go on to win the title.

There is a real scenario in which Pep Guardiola's side win every single one of their six remaining Premier League matches. Given the form they are in, it is expected of them. They have not lost in the league since Manchester United beat them on January 17. Burnley, their next opponents, sit 19th and are 13 points from safety with 15 points to play. Defeat at home to City on Wednesday would confirm their relegation.

Guardiola also has the luxury of rotating his players against weaker opposition. Arteta, on the other hand, has had to do without Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Timber, and Calafiori for long periods this season.

If City win all their games they will finish on 85 points. And if we win our five, we will also finish on 85. In such a scenario, the title will be decided by goal difference. We are currently one goal ahead. And on who pads that number more between now and May 24, the fixtures and the defensive numbers both favour us.

Our five remaining matches are Newcastle at home, Fulham at home, West Ham away, Burnley at home, and Crystal Palace away. Three of the five are at the Emirates, while the remaining two are short trips across London. We do not leave the capital again this season. At the time of writing, none of our five opponents are in the top half of the table. Newcastle sit 14th, Fulham 12th, Palace 13th, West Ham 17th, and Burnley 19th, relegated this week if they lose to City.

In comparison, City's run-in looks harder. Three of their six remaining matches are away at Burnley, Everton, and Bournemouth, while their three home games are against Brentford, Crystal Palace in a rescheduled fixture, and Aston Villa on the final day.

Of those six opponents, Bournemouth are ninth, Brentford eighth, and Villa fourth. Bournemouth under Andoni Iraola are in a great run of form and are a very tough side to face, as we found out at the Emirates. Everton under Moyes are also no pushovers, so the idea that City will easily win all six while we drop points is a prediction rooted in the narrative that Arsenal bottle titles.

Our defence this season is one of our biggest strengths that could lead us to the title. We have conceded 26 goals this season, the lowest of any team in the league. City, on the other hand, have shipped 29.

The attacking numbers are roughly level, with us scoring 63 goals and City 65. Our defensive performances have put us at the top of the table. At one point this season we were on course to break Chelsea's 2004-05 record of 15 goals conceded across a Premier League season. We also went through the entire month of October without conceding a single goal in six matches, the first English top-flight side in history to achieve that.

David Raya became Arsenal's quickest-ever goalkeeper to 50 Premier League clean sheets, reaching the mark in 110 starts. Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba have been one of the two most effective centre-back partnerships in Europe across three consecutive campaigns. We finished 2024-25 with the fewest goals conceded in the Premier League. A team with such a formidable defensive record is not going to suddenly start leaking goals in the remaining five games of the season.

What has changed in the last couple of days is that the sharpness of our attack has returned. Martin Odegaard started at the Etihad on Sunday after a month out with a knee problem and the difference in our attacking play was evident. His ability to find passes and create chances made a big difference in the way we approached that game. Kai Havertz is back and scoring again. Bukayo Saka, who has missed five matches with an Achilles injury, is back in training and Arsenal are hopeful of having him available over the next week, with Newcastle this weekend or the Atletico first leg as realistic return dates.

We have not had our full front line available together for months. We are going into the final five games with that changing. With our best attackers fit again and our miserly defence holding firm, it will give a big boost to our goal difference.

The media will not stop writing us off between now and May 24. That is fine, and we don’t need to be favourites either. What we saw at the Etihad was a team that played with heart, had the better underlying performance, and should have had a red card in its favour. The team was also very unlucky to have hit the post twice. That is how fine the margins are in this title race.

People writing us off already don’t realise that it is City that still have to catch us rather than the other way around. Write Arsenal off and you are betting against everything the evidence says is true.

We just need to take it one game at a time and know that our destiny is still in our hands.