Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Manchester City: 5 things we learned – Dejected resignation

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal shows his frustrationafter defeat in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal shows his frustrationafter defeat in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal shows his frustrationafter defeat in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal shows his frustrationafter defeat in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on March 1, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

Arsenal hosted Manchester City on Thursday night as the Premier League continued. Here are five things we learned from the 3-0 loss.

Well, that was dreadful. But not unpredictable. After a 3-0 loss on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final, Arsenal followed up with another 3-0 loss to the very same opponent. Manchester City, to their credit, were magnificent. They carved open their hosts with fluid football, interchangeable passing, beautiful possessional play, wonderful goals. But this was another abject display that hammers the final nail into the Arsene Wenger coffin.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast here

Here are five things we learned from the 3-0 humiliation.

Arsenal, Jose Mourinho
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – MAY 24: Jose Mourinho, Manager of Manchester United kisses the trophy following victory in the UEFA Europa League Final between Ajax and Manchester United at Friends Arena on May 24, 2017 in Stockholm, Sweden. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /

5. Europa League the thing to play for

Arsenal’s top-four hopes were hanging by a thread before Thursday night’s loss. That thread was cut down and burned after Thursday night’s loss.

Arsenal are now ten points behind Spurs in fourth. That may well be an unassailable gap. It certainly looked so tonight. The Premier League, then, is gone. It is done and dusted. But that does not mean that the season is done. The Europa League is still here, and Wenger and his players must now re-focus.

The Europa League is a European trophy. That is something that Wenger has never won. It should not be underrated or overlooked. It is also a clear and obvious way to achieve Champions League qualification. Wenger should be keen to take advantage of that, investing his resources accordingly. This Manchester City loss confirmed as much.