Arsenal title doubts sowed in minds of neurotic Gooners by Macclesfield heroes in FA Cup defeat | OneFootball

How can Macclesfield losing to Brentford in the FA Cup deny Arsenal the Premier League title? Step this way, Gooners.

‘PE teacher Sam Heathcote has received treatment for a knock but is good to carry on’ is the sort of minute-by-minute update we’re absolutely here for as football fans. A night of action against Premier League opposition followed by a morning of telling teenagers to shut the hell up and asking why they’re wearing their school shoes to climb those mad ladders on the walls of the gym is the juxtaposition we’re all after in the FA Cup.

And the Macclesfield Town heroes offered up another opportunity to compare and contrast on Monday night, a very welcome one that we’re almost as delighted to chew over as the short shrift Heathcote is set to continue to receive on Tuesday morning from the real teachers as he wonders around a field with a whistle, as they added a 427th reason why Arsenal won’t win the Premier League title to the litany in the minds of the increasingly neurotic Gunners fans.

Amid doubts over Mikel Arteta leading them in a final push, Championship striker Viktor Gyokeres’ finishing, Bukayo Saka’s downturn, previous bottlings and the Manchester City factor, it’s an unspoken truth that despite ‘North London Forever’ and the ten minutes of atmosphere at the start of every game at the Emirates, if Arsenal fail to win the title this season it will be entirely the fans’ fault.

Football fandom is largely about worst case scenarios. It’s why ‘2-0 is a dangerous lead’ and 40 points is still ‘the magic number’ despite that being a points tally no team avoiding relegation has required for a couple of decades.

Three consecutive second-placed finishes and no trophy since 2020 has turned the Gunners fanbase into a breeding ground for nerves. If Arsenal fail to score within the first half hour at the Emirates a home positive becomes a huge negative. The anxiety isn’t just palpable, it’s paralysing.

And in their bid to find any means with which to sow further doubts between themselves over their team’s ability to stay the course and claim a major gong, Brentford’s struggles to put non-league Macclesfield away in the FA Cup four days after Arsenal escaped their clash with the Bees with a point can be the latest cause of introspection.

“They’ve had the exact same treatment as Arsenal had on Thursday night in terms of our game plan,” Keith Andrews said ahead of the game, as he also fielded the exact same midfield three as the one which put Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze to the sword, striking what could be a crushing blow to the latter’s World Cup chances.

Macclesfield captain Paul Dawson relished the fight with Vitaly Janelt and Yehor Yarmolyuk, and could have given the home side the lead when he headed over the bar in the early stages before coming as close as anyone in first half when he drilled a shot from the edge of the box just wide of the post.

Mathias Jensen showed his class as a cut above the rest but didn’t manage to create a huge amount against a side 116 places below Brentford in the football pyramid who stayed level for 70 minutes before Heathcote headed the ball into his own net. 20 laps for you, Sir.

Brentford deserved it but the Macclesfield players and manager John Rooney can be hugely proud of their performance on Monday and for beating Crystal Palace in the third round to get to this stage. It’s a monumental achievement.

As is them denying Arsenal the Premier League title in the most gloriously indirect manner, through  a tiny little brain worm (perhaps born by us, right now) that need only work it’s way from one overwrought Gooner mind to a panicked other in order to spread, catch hold and be felt by all XI players when it’s 0-0 at half-time against Chelsea at the Emirates in a couple of weeks’ time.

‘I’m not surprised we’re getting bullied in midfield’ that frustrated groan from 50-odd thousand fans appeared to say, ‘that Macclesfield property developer gave the midfield that dominated our midfield a better game than we did’.