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THE MACHINE STIRS

A penny for the thoughts of Mikel Arteta, who it seems can’t do right for doing wrong. Widely derided all season for the largely risk-averse, belt-and-braces approach to football matches that has his team perched atop the Premier League, the Arsenal head coach defied expectations and went comparatively gung-ho for Sunday’s potential season-definer against Manchester City. To nobody’s great surprise, his team went and got beaten. Having shipped no end of criticism for the unwatchable style of football that had served his side so well until quite recently, Arteta must be bemused by the amount of condescending praise his team is getting for a performance in defeat that finally shifted the momentum in this year’s title race firmly in Manchester City’s favour. Pep Guardiola’s in-form freestylers are still three points behind Arsenal but if their Wednesday night rout-in-hand of Burnley at Turf Moor goes as most expect, they will leapfrog the leaders to go clear on goal difference of +1,057.

While there are still folk out there who claim it would be unfair to label a team that has led the title race for more than 200 days only to surrender a nine-point lead and end up finishing second for the fourth time in a row as massive bottle jobs, there is still a lot of football to be played and the notion that both teams are going to win all their remaining games seems fanciful. However, if Arsenal do end up pulling off their most impressive Devon Loch tribute act to date, it will be nothing short of a total humiliation, given how much self-righteous scorn their noisier fans heaped upon anyone who had the audacity to question the team’s mental fortitude before a ball was kicked this season. While it has not gone unnoticed that many of the same fans are already getting their excuses about knack, fatigue, financial chicanery and anti-Arsenal refereeing agendas in early, this title race is far from over and there’s every possibility they won’t be needed come season’s end.

On the subject of refereeing, even the most one-eyed Arsenal follower is probably prepared to concede that Gabriel Magalhães was extremely lucky to avoid a red card for clashing antlers with Erling Haaland on Sunday. The defender was almost certainly saved by the City striker’s commendable reluctance to throw himself to the ground as he shaped to stick the nut on him. “I think most agree with me, if I go down like any other guy, it’s a red card,” honked Haaland in the game’s aftermath. “It’s not something I would do. My father taught me to stay on your feet. That’s the reality. Should I have gone down? Maybe. Then it would’ve been easier.” It would also have resulted in an untimely ban that would have ruled Gabriel out for three of Arsenal’s five remaining league games. Given the Brazilian’s seven top-flight goal involvements and incalculable importance to his team’s cause, Haaland’s basic decency in the face of strong provocation could yet come back to bite Manchester City on the collective backside.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Michael Butler from 8pm BST for hot Premier League minute-by-minute coverage of Crystal Palace 1-1 West Ham.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This is going to sound mad, but when he’s finished taking shots from the outfield players he takes shots as an outfield player. He doesn’t practise his headers – I’m not going to sit here and say [he] practises headers – but I always see him, and he’s got an incredible eye for a goal” – it’s the time of the season for wild drama and plenty was on show at Exeter City, where goalkeeper Jack Bycroft salvaged a 3-3 draw in League One against promotion-chasing Stockport with a flying header deep in added time, not that it surprised interim boss Matt Taylor. It grabbed a crucial point in the Grecians’ fight against relegation, but it also sent Cardiff City fans wild up at Reading – where they were winning 3-1 – and the Bluebirds back into the Championship.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

Roberto De Zerbi is sure that Spurs can win five games in a row. He should not have a haircut until they do. What could possibly go wrong?” – Darren Leathley.

Just a reminder that it’s almost the five-year anniversary of the so-called €uropean $uper £eague collapsing because the six English clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, were forced to U-turn on it by fans and the UK government. To be fair to Spurs, though, it’s now increasingly clear why they desperately wanted to be in a league with no relegation” – Noble Francis.

Sunday’s biggest game, or its result, means Arsenal need a favour from Crystal Palace, one of Manchester City’s opponents to come. Or, to put it another way, the team who bought Palace’s star attacker in the summer hope they still have enough firepower to overcome the team who bought Palace’s highest-profile defender in January. As if Palace weren’t content with all their own drama, they’re now creating some for everyone else” – Ed Taylor.

I am watching the Newcastle game and am so surprised to see a man in a mask playing for them with what appears to be ‘Batman’ on his shirt. Desperate times, Eddie” – Nigel Sanders.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Darren Leathley. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

The Football Weekly pod squad are here to review a busy weekend in the Premier League and beyond.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

You can also watch the pod if you prefer.

CALL THAT A TITLE RACE?

As the clock ticked towards 7.30pm on Saturday afternoon, York City’s players, fresh from a routine 3-0 win over Yeovil that had taken them to an eye-watering 107 points at the top of the National League, huddled round a phone on the LNER Community Stadium pitch. On the screen, Braintree v Rochdale, where a injury-time equaliser looked set to deny the visitors victory and, in doing so, confirm York’s promotion back to the Football League after 10 years away. Members of the squad bounced around in anticipation, the 8,000 fans in the stands ready to start the celebrations … only for Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s winner for Dale in the 99th minute to spark delirium in Essex and poop the York party before it had even got started. The result leaves Dale two points behind the Minstermen at the top with one game to go. That game? Oh, you’re going to like this: Rochdale v York at Spotland next Saturday, a promotion decider for the ages.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Tottenham have condemned the “vile, dehumanising racism” aimed at defender Kevin Danso after their 2-2 draw with Brighton. Danso was at fault for Georginio Rutter’s stoppage-time equaliser which left Spurs languishing in the relegation zone. The club say they have reported the abuse to police.

Coventry City are back in the Premier League – hats off to Frank Lampard and his Sky Blues – after 25 years away, Friday’s 1-1 draw at Blackburn enough to book their promotion out of the Championship. “This is a serious, serious football club,” whooped Lampard. “I grew up with them as a top-flight club but I didn’t realise. Mark Robins had done an incredible job. To get automatic promotion as a non-parachute [payment] team with three games to go, it makes me feel emotional.”

The fight to join Cov in the top flight continues apace, with Ipswich just in the hot seat after their 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough, coupled with weekend wins for Millwall and Southampton. But, at the other end, Leicester are staring League One full in the face, a 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth leaving them dangling above the trap door … they could fall through it as soon as Tuesday night.

Bayern Munich have pocketed their 35th German league title, beating Stuttgart 4-2 to open up an unassailable lead with four games to play. “We will have enough time to celebrate what we have achieved but now it is about what we can still achieve so we need that full focus,” cooed Vincent Kompany, whose team next face Leverkusen in the German Cup semis before taking on PSG in last four of Bigger Cup. “The players have to recover and prepare the game for Leverkusen. But you can have a glass of red wine in the evening and go to work tomorrow.”

Arne Slot reckons Liverpool provided the perfect answer to questions over their mentality and character, with Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header delivering a familiar pay-off to the Merseyside derby on a new stage. “To beat Everton in their first game in their new stadium after the week we had is an enormous compliment to everybody involved in Liverpool,” roared Slot, who will likely have the services of Ibrahima Konaté beyond this season.

Also on Premier League highs this Monday: Aston Villa, dramatic 4-3 winners over Sunderland, plus Nottingham Forest, piling the pain on Spurs by routing Burnley 4-1 off the back of Morgan Gibbs-White’s hat-trick.

It will be Martin O’Neill v Neil Lennon in the Scottish Cup final after Celtic booked a date with Dunfermline by beating St Mirren 6-2 after extra time.

And Gheorghe Hagi is back in the game, taking over as Romania manager 25 years after his first (brief) spell. “Our goal is to win every game. Our goal is to win the Nations League. Our goal is to qualify for the European Championship [in 2028],” he tooted. “I was born to win, not just to exist.”

STILL WANT MORE?

The Lionesses continued their perfect start to World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 victory in Iceland. Suzy Wrack breaks down their run so far.

You want 10 talking points from the weekend’s Premier League action? Right this way, you maverick renegade.

David Hytner on why there is little doubt who the man of the weekend was in the Premier League’s title showdown.

Marie-Louise Eta, Union Berlin’s “Football Goddess”, has broken new ground in Bundesliga. Andy Brassell reports.

It’s looking sketchy for Gian Piero Gasperini at Roma, and his deteriorating relationship with Claudio Ranieri isn’t helping, writes Nicky Bandini.

Over in Ligue 1, Bill Foley – who also owns Bournemouth – thinks he can do better than his Lorient manager Olivier Pantaloni. But, as Luke Entwistle details, he may prove to be mistaken.

Catch up with Cole Palmer getting his chat on with Jacob Steinberg.

Diego Luna is making his strongest case for a place in the USA USA USA squad for the upcoming Geopolitics World Cup, as Jeff Rueter explains.

And after they ended their circuitous route back to the English top flight, fans and club insiders look back at the journey, from the depths of text-a-sub ridicule and fan mutinies to promotion, while Cov fan Jonny Weeks delivers this lovely piece on the boyhood autographs that remind him of their heydays.

MEMORY LANE

Manchester City were celebrating just a second top-flight title when they lined up against Manchester United for an early-season derby at Maine Road in August 1968. Joe Mercer’s side, inspired by the holy trinity of Colin Bell, Francis Lee and Mike Summerbee, had pipped United by two points in the previous campaign. Here, Bobby Owen, a £40,000 summer signing from Bury, shoots at goal as United duo David Sadler and Nobby Stiles attempt to block his shot. George Best looks unconcerned and rightly so. The game finished 0-0 and, if you think Liverpool’s current title defence is on the underwhelming side, City finished the season in 13th.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN