Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United on Sunday was significant for a number of reasons, including ending a 121-game run.
The primary significance of Arsenal’s defeat to Manchester United on Sunday was allowing the gap at the top of the Premier League to be cut to just four points, as well as ending the team’s unbeaten run at the Emirates Stadium this season.
But that wasn’t the only run to end on Sunday, with the most notable being Arsenal’s record-breaking period of games without conceding three goals.
OptaJoe reports that Arsenal made it to 121 matches across all competitions without conceding more than twice, the most any top-flight English side has ever managed in the history of football.
The Gunners broke the old record some time ago, and every subsequent game has just been extending it. But the run has finally come to an end now.
OptaJoe adds that Sunday’s game was also the first time since 2008 that Arsenal had conceded twice from outside the penalty area in a Premier League game at the Emirates.
That 2008 match is one most Arsenal fans would probably prefer to forget, a 4-4 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. But that’s the only other time in the Emirates Stadium’s history that the team have conceded twice in the league to goals from outside the area.
In a way, the latter record should provide some small encouragement to Arsenal fans. Very occasionally you will concede two long-range goals and miss out on three points as a result, but it’s a once-in-a-decade sort of thing, not really something to worry about.
The end of the two-goal run is a bit more disappointing. Though it’s ultimately just another statistic, it was a oft-cited record that gave fans confidence in their team’s defensive abilities, a reminder of how rarely Arsenal have a bad day at the back.
Given the team’s difficulties in scoring goals freely, that defensive record is important if the Gunners are going to win trophies. So Mikel Arteta will be keen to get his team focused on starting a new run against Kairat Almaty on Wednesday.