Going into January, Arsenal knew they had three matches to play against Chelsea, one in the league and two in the League Cup. First up was the Blues league trip to the Emirates, and it was almost as eventful as the match against Liverpool a few weeks earlier.

It took until the second half for either side to make the breakthrough, and it was Jack Wilshere breaking the deadlock with a bullet shot into the near post. The Arsenal fans celebrated wildly, but just four minutes later Eden Hazard won and scored a very controversial penalty.

Hector Bellerin’s slight touch on Hazard’s foot was apparently enough for the Belgian to hit the deck, as it generally is in his case. Then, with six minutes to go, the Chelsea fans were the ones going nuts, as Marcos Alonso turned in a cross from substitute Davide Zappacosta.

There was one more twist to come, as Bellerin redeemed himself to become the unlikely scorer of an Arsenal equaliser. The match ended 2-2.

Early Elimination

The next day, Arsenal announced the signing of Konstantinos Mavropanos, a young Greek centre-back who the club planned to send on loan. In the end they never did, but the 20-year-old wouldn’t play for the first team for a few months yet.

After that, the FA charged Arsene Wenger with misconduct for his (correct) comments about Mike Dean’s performance officiating the West Brom match on New Year’s Eve. They gave the manager a three-match touchline ban, starting with Arsenal’s weekend trip to Nottingham Forest.

The game was Arsenal’s first in the FA Cup, as they looked to retain the trophy. Wenger named a weakened side, thanks to the Chelsea matches either side, with Reiss Nelson getting a start in the front three, and Per Mertesacker getting a rare game as well.

It was Nottingham who took the game to the Gunners though. Eric Lichaj gave them the lead, and when Per Mertesacker equalised, Lichaj put them back ahead. Ben Brereton then scored a penalty for 3-1, and when Danny Welbeck pulled one back Kieran Dowell scored another penalty for 4-2.

Perhaps conceding another two penalties in a week where they’d already had two given against them was harsh, but Arsenal didn’t deserve anything from this one unfortunately.

After that, the Gunners played out a very boring 0-0 against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which is exactly what they needed from the first leg of the League Cup tie.

Unfortunately their run without a win went on the following weekend, with an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to AFC Bournemouth. The Arsenal team was missing the likes of Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez, but Hector Bellerin gave them the lead anyway.

Then Petr Cech and the defence hit the self-destruct button, and Wilson and Ibe gave Bournemouth the win.

Players on the Move

For the next game, Alexis Sanchez’s move to Manchester United was so close to completion that Wenger decided not to include him in the squad to face Crystal Palace. Without him, Arsenal ran riot, seemingly with a point to prove.

Nacho Monreal had a whirlwind half hour, scoring one and assisting two, before going off injured. Alexandre Lacazette scored a fourth from an Özil assist, to cap off a lovely move. Palace pulled one back in the second half, and it ended 4-1.

It was the perfect way to boost morale ahead of the League Cup second leg, but that good feeling immediately disappeared when Eden Hazard scored within seven minutes. Suddenly Arsenal needed two goals, as the away goals rule comes into effect after extra time in the semi-finals.

Thankfully they found the goals, with Rudiger turning into his own net before Granit Xhaka became the unlikely match winner. The win set up a trip to Wembley in February, against Manchester City.

Before the game, Sanchez completed his move to United, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan going the other way. The Armenian then had the chance to make his Arsenal debut against Swansea City, but he started on the bench.

Arsenal took the lead anyway, thanks to another goal from Nacho Monreal. After that things went south, with Swansea scoring three times to win the match. Even the introduction of Mkhitaryan, and Olivier Giroud for his final appearance, didn’t make any difference.

Giroud said his goodbyes, and finalised a move to Chelsea. Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi secured a loan to Borussia Dortmund, which allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to become Arsenal’s club-record signing.

The Gunners finished the month in sixth place, with a massive February to come. Their new signings would need to settle quickly to help Arsenal into the top four, get into the Europa League quarter-finals and win the League Cup final. With the way the team were playing, it was a big ask.

Check back tomorrow for Wenger’s final season: 2017/18 review – February to May