Arsenal held on for a seven-point lead in the Premier League despite drawing Nottingham Forest to 0-0 at the City Ground on Saturday.
After Manchester City lost 2-0 to local rivals Manchester United in the lunchtime kick-off, the Gunners had a chance to increase their lead to nine points.
As Forest held out to increase their chances of survival, Arsenal were forced to pay for a poor first-half performance.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men are still in a strong position to put an end to a 22-year wait for the title.
Sean Dyche had criticized his team’s poor first-half performance against second-place Wrexham last weekend in the FA Cup.
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As the home team battled valiantly five points clear of the relegation zone, Dyche was able to get the response he needed.
Since the start of the year, City have been unable to put any pressure on Arsenal with four games without wins.
However, Arsenal couldn’t thwart a significant lead thanks to back-to-back goalless draws against Forest and Liverpool.
If Aston Villa defeats Everton on Sunday, they could close the gap at the top by four points.
In the opening period, the visitors had no chance on target.
Forest started to be stretched until Arteta fully flexed his strength off the bench in the second period.
Before the hour mark, Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, and Leandro Trossard were all introduced at the break.
When Saka’s looping header from Declan Rice’s cross was brilliantly diverted behind by goalkeeper Matz Sels, it was the closest to breaking the deadlock.
Rice’s inviting free-kick delivery was too distracting for Merino to score.
With their 11th clean sheet in 22 league games, Arsenal could have at least come one step closer to the top.
Source: Channels TV
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