When the full-time whistle blew at the Etihad Stadium on April 19th, Erling Haaland appeared to be singing Flo Rida's "Good Feeling" to the camera, as Manchester City's 2-1 win over Arsenal saw the gap close at the top of the Premier League table to three points, with the multiple-time champions having a game in hand.
Declan Rice also appeared to be telling captain Martin Ødegaard that "it was not done," implying that the title race was not over despite the loss.
Many questions begun to arise on whether Arsenal had 'bottled it', and why they always seemed to falter in April, having suffered their third defeat in just five matches.
With previous memories of the 2022/23 title falter in the mind of Arsenal fans, many wondered whether the same was occurring once again, but the Gunners have revived themselves and are now on the edge of a special season.
The question is how they have turned a position of back against the wall into a position of glory?
Taking advantage of playing before City
Manchester City did briefly go back to the top of the table on April 22nd, when Haaland's strike gave them a
1-0 win over Burnley, which put them on top of the table on the basis of goals scored.
However, due to their commitments in the FA Cup, Arsenal would have the opportunity to play on consecutive Saturday nights against Newcastle and Fulham before Pep Guardiola's side went again in the league.
With it being labelled like a five-game shootout, the Gunners needed to pile the pressure back on City with two wins.
They completed that task by beating Newcastle 1-0 courtesy of a well-worked short corner, which was finished expertly by Eberechi Eze, who scored the only goal of the match.
A week later, the Cottagers were dispatched 3-0 with a brace from Viktor Gyokeres and a goal from Bukayo Saka.
Playing with positive intentions
In the few games following the Carabao Cup Final defeat to City, a couple of big issues emerged.
One of those was the issue of open play xG, with the Gunners not averaging over 1.00 from outside of set pieces until the meeting at the Etihad in April.
Arsenal open play xG following the Carabao Cup Final:
April 4th - Southampton 2-1 Arsenal (FA Cup) - 1.61 xG (1.00 open play)
April 7th - Sporting CP 0-1 Arsenal (UCL QF) - 1.33 xG (0.88 open play)
April 11th - Arsenal 1-2 Bournemouth - 2.32 xG (0.18 open play)
April 15th - Arsenal 0-0 Sporting CP (UCL QF) - 0.64 xG (0.48 open play)
The positive change came in the 3-0 win over Fulham. Arsenal showed a willingness to attack, which got the crowd on their side, as shown by the standing ovation they received at half-time when they were three goals up.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was one of the breakthrough stars for Arsenal last season, making 39 appearances, earning an England call-up, and scoring on his debut at Wembley.
This season, the Hale End graduate has found opportunities to come by, with just two starts in the Premier League prior to the Fulham game.
It was the game against the Cottagers that changed things, though. Martín Zubimendi has started every league game apart from one (West Ham at home in October), and it was clear that the Spaniard needed a rest.
Mikel Arteta made the brave decision to bring Lewis-Skelly into midfield, a position which he played predominantly during his youth days before breaking into the first team at left-back.
He repaid that faith with an excellent midfield performance, the most eye-catching part being his desire to pass the ball into the final third. Lewis-Skelly completed 64/66 passes (an accuracy of 97%).
The youngster was then brought into midfield for Arsenal's biggest game at the Emirates in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, and once more showed his quality, winning all three of his aerial duels during the game.
It would be interesting to see whether he can force his way back into Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad with a couple more performances, considering the versatility aspect that he also brings to the squad.
Players making an impact off the bench
In the Premier League this season, the Gunners have had 11 players come off the bench to score; only Brighton (12) has managed more.
The 1-0 win over West Ham on Sunday (May 10th) was the biggest sign of Arsenal, making use of their bench.
Arteta made a big call to bring Zubimendi off in the 67th minute, having previously subbed him on for the injured Ben White in the 28th minute.
He sent on Ødegaard, who made his impact by making three passes into the final third in just 23 minutes, though the biggest impact was a three-minute period in which the captain took the initiative between the 80th and 83rd minute.
The Gunners were struggling to create chances, so he drove forward, playing a 1-2 with Rice before laying the ball back to Leandro Trossard, and the Belgian smashed into the bottom corner for a goal that puts Arsenal within two wins of a first league title since 2004.
It is important to remember that there is two games left for Arsenal to navigate, but they are wins against Burnley at the Emirates, and away at Crystal Palace, from claiming the league title that was last lifted by Patrick Vieira at Highbury back in May 2004.