On a day where former Arsenal man Granit Xhaka was being crowned a Bundesliga champion with Bayer Leverkusen, the Gunners' own title ambitions were falling apart in north London.
A few hours earlier Mikel Arteta's side had seen Liverpool slip up, tasting a 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace. Their match with Aston Villa, therefore, took on greater importance.
Arsenal had the chance to regain top spot with a victory on Sunday but blew their chance, ultimately putting Manchester City in pole position for the league crown after a dismal 2-0 defeat.
City don't tend to squander things at this time of the year so it would be unlikely that either Arteta or Jurgen Klopp can do anything about things now.
Unai Emery, on the other hand, already not particularly well-liked in these parts, gave his own side a fabulous chance of securing qualification for the Champions League. Of all days to do it, this will certainly sting for those of an Arsenal persuasion.
There were a number of underperformers in red and white, not least Oleksandr Zinchenko who appears to have been given the left-back slot again.
Zinchenko's performance in numbers
The Ukrainian has changed the way Arsenal play since signing from Man City, Very rarely had they been able to field an inverted full-back in the past but his excellent technical abilities mean he can drift inside to act as another central midfielder.
The trouble is, he's a liability defensively, there's no other way of putting it. Against Villa he showed his true colours in this department with some feeble defending that put the visitors in the ascendency.
He set the tone for a disastrous ending to the game for Arsenal, who conceded two late goals, by gifting the ball away from a corner. Zinchenko tried to dribble his way out of play on the right but was dispossessed by Youri Tielemans. The Belgian curled a delicious effort towards the far corner before it struck both post and bar. There was the warning sign.
Arsenal did not heed such a warning, ultimately conceding to both Leon Bailey and then man of the moment, Ollie Watkins.
Zinchenko eventually left the field having won just one of his five defensive duels but he didn't even offer much of a threat in the final third either. The left-back managed only one key pass and a dismal expected assists (xA) tally of 0.03. To make matters worse, he ceded possession on 13 occasions.
Those errors at the back, however, may not have mattered had Gabriel Jesus been up to scratch during his 79 minutes on the field.
Jesus' performance in numbers
Today of all days Arsenal needed their players with title-winning experience to stand up and be counted. Did they? Sadly not.
Jesus has been a wonderful player for the Gunners since signing in the summer of 2022 but has been rather cursed with injury over the last year or so. This campaign alone the Brazilian has been absent for 16 matches.
He has shown glimpses of his dazzling ability at times this term, notably to supply Leandro Trossard's goal against Bayern in midweek, but he was certainly not at the races on Sunday evening.
A notable trend of Jesus' of late has been his ability to spurn chances. He's far too indecisive in the box and that definitely cost Arteta and his side at the Emirates.
That was certainly the case in the first 45 minutes where Jesus should have put Arsenal in front. A ball was floated to the back post but rather than plant a header across goal, he went for the near post. The end result? The ball found the side netting of Emiliano Martinez's goal.
Jesus had two more attempts in the match, neither of which hit the target during a profligate time inside the penalty area.
Substituted with 11 minutes of normal time remaining, he departed the field having made just 13 passes, albeit he did succeed with 93% of his attempts.
Minutes played
79
Expected goals (xG)
0.24
Shots
3
Dribble attempts
2/3
Touches
34
Duels won
4/8
Possession lost
6x
That is hardly unsurprising for such a selfless player but that is the 27-year-old's biggest weakness. He isn't clinical enough in the area. That is ultimately why City were keen to cash in on the centre forward.
Handed a 4/10 match rating by Goal's Matt O'Connor-Simpson, he wrote of the attacker's display: 'His work without the ball was exemplary, but he needs to offer more of a threat in games like this.'
A more brutal judgement came courtesy of Arsenal writer Oli Price Bates who suggested the Brazilian was "appalling". Both are apt assessments of a player who could and should offer far more when it comes to scoring goals.
It begs the question, therefore, as to why Kai Havertz was moved further back. Arsenal's good form has been built upon the German featuring as the focal point in attack over Jesus but the former Chelsea man was deployed in midfield on this occasion. It's something for Arteta to ponder as he plans out how his team may look for the final few weeks of the season.
This could well go down as the day Arsenal lost the title and if it is, they will have two former Manchester City men to play. Who'd have thought?
