Two years after the end of Arsene Wenger’s final season with Arsenal, we’re looking back at the manager’s final campaign, and this time specifically February to May.

This article is the third of three, and in the first part we took a look back at August to October. If you want to start there, click here. For now it’s onto the final months of the season.

February 2018

After completing the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal fans were excited to see him in action for the first time against Everton. Henrikh Mkhitaryan also got his first start at the Emirates that day, and ended up stealing the show with three assists.

One of those was to the club’s new star striker, for a debut goal. Aaron Ramsey also bagged a hat-trick, and Arsenal ended up winning 5-1.

That put Arsenal in a decent position to catch up with Spurs, but they needed a win against their North London rivals in the derby the next weekend. In truth, they never looked like getting one, and they had Petr Cech to thank that they only lost 1-0.

Lacazette missed a decent chance to get the team a point they didn’t deserve, and the next week it turned out he was playing with an injury, and had to have knee surgery. The procedure went well, but he missed the next month of football as a result.

With that defeat, finishing in the top four started to look like an impossible task. Fortunately, Arsenal still had the possibility of winning the Europa League, and qualifying for next season’s Champions League using that method.

Östersund FK

The first team standing in their way was Östersund FK, in the round of 32. Thanks to the early elimination from the FA Cup, Arsenal had no distractions in between the two legs. All they needed to do was eliminate one of the smallest and youngest clubs in the competition.

The main concerns were more about the conditions in Sweden than the opposition. The pitch was artificial, and the temperatures freezing. They needn’t have worried, as Nacho Monreal gave Arsenal an early lead, followed by an own goal and a Mesut Özil third to almost put the tie to bed in the first leg.

Östersund won a late penalty, but amazingly David Ospina actually saved it. Saving a penalty is an almost unheard of feat in recent years at Arsenal.

As a result, the Gunners only had to avoid a defeat of 3-0 or more at home to progress. Back on the Emirates pitch, in the comparatively warmer climate, that should have been no problem.

Perhaps the team forgot they actually had to play the match though, because they found themselves 2-0 down after 23 minutes. Sead Kolasinac’s second half goal calmed the nerves, but until the final minutes there was always a chance that Östersund might score another couple in quick succession and send Arsenal packing.

They didn’t, with the game ending 2-1. Whilst that did mean a rare defeat at the Emirates, progression was all they needed on the night.

League Cup Final

Back in domestic competition, the Arsenal fans made the short trip to Wembley to watch their team face the runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City, in the League Cup final. Arsene Wenger had to do without Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as he was cup-tied from his time with Manchester United.

With Lacazette as well, the manager was lucky he had new signing Aubameyang to play up front. Unfortunately the striker saw his early chance snuffed out by a Kyle Walker tackle, and he didn’t get another one for the remainder of the match.

At the other end, one long kick and a nudge in Mustafi’s back saw Sergio Aguero through on goal to confidently finish over David Ospina. After that City just went from strength to strength, with Vincent Kompany and David Silva adding a second and a third.

By the final 15 minutes Arsenal looked completely dejected and didn’t even seem to be trying anymore. It was a bitterly disappointing end to an enjoyable cup campaign.

March 2018

Arsenal started off the next month as they’d finished the last one, with a match against Manchester City. This time in the league, a mixture of terrible weather conditions and widespread fan disappointment at the weekend’s result meant hardly anyone actually turned up.

The snow was so bad that Arsenal decided to paint the pitch lines blue, to stand out more. City walked over Wenger’s side again, going 3-0 up inside the first 32 minutes. Aubameyang should have got the club back in it with a second half penalty, but Ederson saved well, and it ended with the same result as the cup final.

Now with three defeats in a row behind them, Arsenal travelled to Brighton to try and put things right. Once again, they started slowly and were punished for it, with the hosts taking a 2-0 lead.

Aubameyang finished intelligently to make it 2-1 before half-time, but there was no second half comeback, and that’s how the match ended.

Four straight defeats didn’t exactly fill the fans with confidence ahead of the team’s Europa League last-16 match against AC Milan, but they had to face up to the prospect the following Thursday nonetheless.

A Winning Run at Last?

For the first time in a long time, Arsenal really stepped up to the occasion, during their trip to Milan. The defence just about stood firm, bar a couple of shaky moments, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the team a surprising early lead. By half-time the fans were in dreamland, as Aaron Ramsey confidently rounded the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

In the second half the focus switched to just keeping the lead and taking a result back to the Emirates. The players fought hard to make it happen, and ended up with a surprising win no one really expected.

Back in North London and with a bit of confidence after that victory, Arsenal eased past Watford 3-0. Mustafi scored along with both new signings, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan.

To top off a good day, Troy Deeney stepped up to take a penalty, and failed to convert it, as Petr Cech made his first spot-kick save of his Arsenal career. It was a particularly sweet moment after all of Deeney’s comments about knowing how to beat Wenger’s side, earlier in the season.

In the final game of the month, before the international break, the Gunners had to finish off the job they’d started against AC Milan. The Emirates was almost full for once, as everyone turned up to see the return of big European nights to the stadium.

Arsenal started a little nervously, but there was nothing they could do about Milan’s opening goal, as Calhanoglu hit a wonder-strike to give the away side the lead. A few minutes later Danny Welbeck converted a dodgy penalty, and the tie swung back in their favour.

Granit Xhaka scored from range thanks to Donnarumma fumbling the ball, and Welbeck added a third late on to ensure Arsenal got the win as well as progression to the quarter-finals.

April 2018

After the international break, Arsenal faced Stoke City. In fact, the break came at a very welcome time, as it gave Alexandre Lacazette a couple of extra weeks to reach match fitness. He made the bench for the match on April 1st, for the first time since since the Spurs game almost two months earlier.

Without the striker in the starting line up, Arsenal struggled to create anything at all. They’d barely had a shot on target by the 61st minute when the Frenchman replaced Danny Welbeck. After that, Aubameyang scored two goals (one from the spot), before Lacazette won a penalty for the Gunners.

Aubameyang was on a hat-trick, and he’d already scored one penalty that game. However, he turned down the chance to score his third of the day, instead allowing Lacazette to get a bit of confidence with a goal on his return. The 26-year-old duly obliged, and made it 3-0.

Later it would turn out this was massive moment for the Frenchman’s season. He can be very thankful to his strike partner for getting him going.

CSKA Moscow

For the first time since 2009/10, Arsenal were in a European quarter-final, albeit in the Europa League. They drew CSKA Moscow, with the first leg at the Emirates.

Within 9 minutes the Gunners took the lead, thanks to Aaron Ramsey. The initial excitement quickly died as Aleksandr Golovin curled in an impressive equaliser. Suddenly CSKA had an away goal.

Not long later, Arsenal won a penalty, and fresh from his goal at the weekend, Lacazette stepped up to convert it. Ramsey then scored a sublime second (Arsenal’s third) with a back-heel volley. Lacazette added another before half-time, and the home team were in a commanding position despite that one conceded.

The second half was much less eventful, apart from a very unfortunately timed injury to Henrikh Mkhitaryan. He was ruled out for about a month after the game.

Over the weekend, Arsenal played out a 3-2 win over Southampton, with Danny Welbeck scoring a brace and Aubameyang adding another goal to his tally. Mohamed Elneny picked up a red card late on, but the FA overturned it afterwards.

Then it was off to Moscow for the quarter-final second leg. All Arsenal needed to do was avoid a three goal defeat, but they made it difficult for themselves, going 2-0 down after 50 minutes. Then Mohamed Elneny and Danny Welbeck combined for their respective biggest moments of the season, with the Egyptian setting up the Englishman for 2-1.

At that point, Moscow needed two goals just to level it up, and they lost their rhythm. Aaron Ramsey scored in injury time to ensure it ended level on the night, and Arsenal progressed to the semis.

The next day, they found out their opponents, Atletico Madrid, the favourites for the entire competition.

The Final Straw

Before the tie against Madrid, Arsenal had a couple of Premier League matches to deal with. First, they travelled to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle United. Despite Lacazette scoring again to give the team an early lead, Newcastle came from behind to win.

The defeat ensured Arsenal remained one of the only teams in the entire country to pick up zero points away from home in 2018.

This turned out to be the breaking point for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger. The following Friday, Wenger announced he would step down from his role as manager at the end of the season. Suddenly the remainder of the campaign took on a completely different feel. It was a chance to send the manager off, perhaps with one last trophy.

Back at the Emirates, Arsenal continued to cruise, as they had done almost all season at home. This time against West Ham United, Monreal gave the team a second half lead. Although Marko Arnautovic quickly equalised, Arsenal piled on the pressure late in the game after Aubameyang entered the fray.

Aaron Ramsey scored the second of the game, and Lacazette added two more to ensure a comfortable victory in Wenger’s final London derby.

Europa League Semi-Final and a Trip to Old Trafford

With the crowd back on side, and Champions League qualification at stake, the atmosphere was electric for Arsenal’s semi-final first leg against Atletico. The team responded to the crowd’s energy, and dominated the match from the first whistle. It helped that after 15 minutes Atletico went down to 10 men, thanks to a second yellow.

Wave after wave of Arsenal attacks threatened to break down Diego Simeone’s side, but they resisted, largely thanks to Jan Oblak in goal. Eventually the breakthrough came from an Alexandre Lacazette header, not exactly the most likely source.

Just when it looked like Arsenal were going to head to Madrid disappointed to only have a one goal lead, they managed to go one further and let in an equaliser. The defending was shambolic as Koscielny failed to clear, then Ospina deflected the ball back into Griezmann’s path, before Mustafi slipped over and the ball bounced off him into the goal.

The away goal killed the buzz around the ground, and left Arsenal with a lot of work to do in Madrid.

At the weekend, Wenger played youngsters and debutant Konstantinos Mavropanos against Manchester United, resting his star players for the trip to Spain. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was man of the match and Mavropanos played excellently, but the young side lost in heartbreaking fashion to a late winner from United’s full strength team. It ended 2-1.

May 2018

The following Thursday in Madrid, Arsenal needed a win or a high-scoring draw to progress to the Europa League final.

They suffered a major early blow as Laurent Koscielny picked up a major Achilles injury, which would rule him out for most of the rest of the year. Diego Costa gave Atletico the lead before half-time, but really the only thing that mattered was whether Arsenal scored or not.

The team only managed one shot on target, a decent Granit Xhaka strike which was well saved. It finished 1-0, and Arsenal’s hopes of a European trophy to send Wenger off faded away.

Wenger’s Farewell

All that remained was the club’s chance to send their longest serving manager off in the right way. Arsenal and Burnley agreed to give the boss a guard of honour before their game at the Emirates, and after two weeks playing against Atletico Madrid and Manchester United, the team had no trouble at all breaking down Burnley’s defence.

Aubameyang scored twice, and Lacazette, Kolasinac and Iwobi added goals of their own for 5-0. Arsenal were rampant on the day, and Mavropanos impressed again at centre-back.

Afterwards, Wenger said his farewells, and the club presented him with the special commemorative golden Premier League trophy they received after the ‘Invincible’ season. There were tears and banners and spine-tingling renditions of ‘One Arsene Wenger’ in the sun, and then it was over.

Except it wasn’t, because Arsenal still had two more matches to play. First they faced Leicester City, and started slowly, conceding early on to Kelechi Iheanacho. Then Leicester got a massive boost from the referee when he sent off Mavropanos for a cynical foul, even though Rob Holding was nearby to cover.

Aubameyang scored another goal to draw Arsenal level, but their 10 men couldn’t hold out for the remainder of the match, and Vardy and Mahrez made it 3-1.

Finally, Arsenal travelled to Huddersfield. It was an appropriate venue for Arsene Wenger’s final match, given the connection between the two clubs through Herbert Chapman.

Ramsey captained the side in Koscielny’s absence, and he ended up providing an assist for the winning goal, with Aubameyang getting on the end of a lovely flowing move. The Huddersfield fans paid tribute to Wenger before, during and after the game, showing a touch of class.

The match ended 1-0, and so the season came to an end with it. Arsenal finished in sixth, without a trophy to their name, but at least they’d managed to end on a high with wins in their final matches home and away.

Next season will hopefully bring many more exciting moments than this one did, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Arsene Wenger’s successor can take heart from Aubameyang’s 14 goal contributions in just 13 games, and Mkhitaryan’s strong start to life at Arsenal. Plus there was Lacazette’s strong finish to the season, and the fact Özil is tied down long-term. Granit Xhaka improved as the season went on as well.

The new manager just needs to sort out the defence and let those players in front of them express themselves. But that’s next season’s problem. For now, it’s time to put this campaign out of our heads, to enjoy the summer and look forward to the upcoming World Cup.