Arsenal Survive Injuries and VAR Drama in Title Chase
The London Stadium crackled long before the final whistle. It ended with Arsenal clinging to their title charge, West Ham raging at VAR, and Nottingham Forest quietly celebrating survival 150 miles away.
All of it hinged on Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal survive injuries, chaos and a late VAR storm
Mikel Arteta rolled out the same XI for a third straight game, a manager daring not to touch a winning formula. Arsenal responded with a blitz.
Trossard rattled the bar. Riccardo Calafiori twice went close. Mads Hermansen and Kostas Mavropanos threw themselves in front of shots. Seven efforts rained in during the opening 15 minutes. The league leaders looked like they might blow West Ham away.
Then the familiar chill of an Arsenal injury hit.
Ben White, ever-present and ever-reliable, crumpled with a knee problem and hobbled off in a leg brace. Arteta didn’t sugar-coat it: it “doesn’t look good at all”. For a title run-in, that’s ominous. For White, it might be the end of his season.
The response from the bench raised eyebrows. Instead of the natural defensive replacement, Cristhian Mosquera, Arteta turned to Martin Zubimendi and shunted Declan Rice into an emergency right-back role. Rice has barely played there all year. It showed.
Arsenal lost their grip on midfield. West Ham, suffocated early on, suddenly had room to breathe. The Gunners managed just one more shot before the break, their early dominance drained away by their own reshuffle.
Then came a second blow. Calafiori, so smooth and assertive when fit, failed to reappear for the second half. Another defensive piece gone. Another adjustment.
Mosquera finally entered at right-back, Rice moved back into midfield, and Myles Lewis-Skelly was sacrificed from the centre to cover at left-back. The 19-year-old has been a revelation in midfield; at full-back, his influence vanished. Arsenal’s attacking rhythm went with it.
Arteta saw enough. Just past the hour, he made the kind of decision that defines ruthless managers: he subbed his own sub. Zubimendi, brought on early, was hooked for Martin Odegaard. Kai Havertz replaced the subdued Eberechi Eze at the same time. The tone of the game changed in an instant.
Arsenal started to look like themselves again. The ball moved quicker, the angles sharpened. Odegaard drifted into pockets, Rice stepped higher, and West Ham were pushed back.
The pressure finally told.
With seven minutes left, Odegaard and Rice combined in a crisp one-two that sliced open the defence. Odegaard slipped the decisive pass, his seventh assist of the season, and Trossard did the rest, sweeping home the kind of nerveless finish that wins titles and breaks hearts.
Saka, curiously, wasn’t on the pitch to enjoy it. West Ham’s deep five-man block had largely smothered Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres, two of the most sought-after attackers of the Gameweek. Saka fired a couple of hopeful efforts over but made way for Noni Madueke shortly before the breakthrough. Gyokeres, shackled by Mavropanos, barely had a sniff.
Arteta’s “finishers”, as he calls them, had dragged Arsenal over the line. Odegaard, in particular, made a compelling case to start the final home game against relegated Burnley. Eze’s place is suddenly under real pressure, especially with Trossard in this kind of form on the left.
Raya’s golden touch and Gabriel’s iron wall
If Arsenal do get over the line in this title race, David Raya will have as much claim as any outfield star.
His 18th clean sheet of the season locks up the Golden Glove, but the numbers don’t capture the moment that may yet define Arsenal’s campaign. With the game still goalless, Matheus Fernandes burst through with a chance that carried an xG north of 0.5. Most keepers go early. Raya stood tall, waited, and then exploded into the save. It was world-class, and it kept Arsenal alive long enough for Trossard to strike.
Behind him, Gabriel Magalhaes produced the kind of performance that underpins titles and fantasy seasons alike. Two shots at the other end, 17th clean sheet of the campaign, two defensive contribution points, three bonus, 11 points and counting. He’s now over 200 points and closing fast on Andrew Robertson’s all-time FPL record for a defender (213 in 2018/19). One more huge week and that mark is in sight.
Gabriel’s most important touch, though, came in stoppage time. Callum Wilson, on as a late battering ram, looked certain to snatch an equaliser. Gabriel threw himself in front of the effort, a last-ditch block that preserved both the win and the clean sheet.
It still wasn’t the end of the drama.
Deep into added time, West Ham thought they had their moment. Wilson again, the net bulging, the stadium erupting. Then the familiar pause. VAR lines drawn, angles checked, hearts in mouths. The decision went Arsenal’s way. No goal. No equaliser. A title bid still intact, a VAR call destined to be replayed for years in east London.
Mavropanos could only reflect on what might have been. The former Arsenal defender had bullied Gyokeres, gone close with a header, and might have reached the final corner had he not been hauled down by Rice in a tussle that summed up the stakes. On another day, he’d be the story. Instead, he leaves with nothing but credit and a final-day shot at Newcastle and Leeds as a potential differential.
For Arsenal, the path is suddenly clearer: Burnley, already down, and a Crystal Palace side with one eye on Europe. On paper, their hardest assignment of 2025/26 is behind them. On the pitch, their bodies are creaking, but their nerve is holding.
Forest cling on, Anderson delivers, Gibbs-White waits
While Arsenal fought for a title, Nottingham Forest fought for their lives.
At the City Ground, they started the day knowing a draw would probably be enough to keep them up. They ended it with exactly that – and with Leandro Trossard’s late winner in London confirming their safety.
They did it without their main creator. Morgan Gibbs-White, sidelined by a facial injury and ruled out by a specialist, never made it onto the team sheet. Murillo, Ibrahim Sangare and Ola Aina were also missing. Vitor Pereira, stripped of options, went with a five-man defence to start. It didn’t work.
Forest looked blunt, passive, and short of ideas. Pereira reacted, flipping to a back four, and his side improved. Still, they lacked a spark in the final third.
So Anderson provided it.
Two minutes from time, with Newcastle seemingly on course for a controlled 1-0 away win, James McAtee threaded a clever pass through the lines. Anderson, facing his former club, timed his run and buried the finish. Fourth goal of the season, more defensive contribution points, and a place among the top five midfielders in the game. More importantly, a point that all but guaranteed Forest’s survival.
Pereira can only hope the cavalry returns for Gameweek 37. Gibbs-White, Murillo, Sangare, Aina – Forest need them back. The coach made it clear the decision to omit Gibbs-White was medical, not tactical. If the specialist clears him, he plays. If not, Forest will lean on Anderson again.
Newcastle’s missed chances and Barnes’ timely reminder
Newcastle arrived with their own subplots. Nick Woltemade earned a first start in two months. William Osula, rewarded for three goals in his previous four matches, led the line again. Lewis Hall, oddly stationed at right-back, filled in for the injured Tino Livramento and Fabian Schar.
Kieran Trippier, on his way out, appeared only in stoppage time. Anthony Gordon, also expected to move on, never left the bench. It felt like a glimpse of Newcastle’s next phase.
On the pitch, one man dominated the ball.
Bruno Guimaraes ran the show. Four shots, including a thunderous free-kick that flashed just wide. Three big chances created. Three key passes. Five fouls won. He will collect two bonus points and, on this evidence, remains Newcastle’s safest and most potent fantasy pick for the run-in.
Osula was just as hungry, peppering the Forest goal with four attempts of his own. One free-kick cannoned off the bar, Sels beaten but saved by the woodwork. Between them, Bruno and Osula carried Newcastle’s threat.
The breakthrough came from the bench.
Jacob Ramsey, on as a substitute, slid a precise through ball into space on 74 minutes. Harvey Barnes, timing his run to perfection, raced clear and finished with the kind of composure that has always been his calling card. Back-to-back Premier League goals for the first time since November, and a clear message to Eddie Howe.
With Gordon seemingly out of the picture and Newcastle desperate to finish the season on a high, Barnes has kicked the door open for a start against West Ham in Gameweek 37. Howe knows exactly what he has: “He is such a good player and he has goals in him… he’s an outstanding player.” The goal only strengthens his case.
Newcastle, though, remain their own worst enemy at the back.
For long spells of the second half, they controlled territory and tempo. They had chances to stretch the lead. They didn’t take them. Then, late on, the familiar pattern reappeared: they dropped a few yards deeper, stopped pressing with the same conviction, and invited pressure. Forest accepted the invitation. Anderson punished them.
Another late goal conceded. More points spilled. Howe’s frustration was plain. Newcastle’s defensive frailties have turned what could have been a strong finish into a nervous stumble, and from a fantasy perspective, their backline is now a hard sell.
Arsenal’s title chase survives another wild afternoon. Forest breathe again. Newcastle and West Ham are left to pick through the wreckage of what might have been.
Two Gameweeks remain. Records, places, and a trophy are still on the line. Who holds their nerve now?
