{"id":46116,"date":"2026-04-20T14:59:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/wayne-rooney-gives-arsenal-a-surprise-title-win-after-losing-2-1-at-the-etihad\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T14:59:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T18:59:39","slug":"wayne-rooney-gives-arsenal-a-surprise-title-win-after-losing-2-1-at-the-etihad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/wayne-rooney-gives-arsenal-a-surprise-title-win-after-losing-2-1-at-the-etihad\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne Rooney gives Arsenal a surprise title win after losing 2-1 at the Etihad"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/wayne-rooney-gives-arsenal-a-surprise-title-win-after-losing-2-1-at-the-etihad\/#Rooney_supports_Arsenal_to_Premier_League_title\" >Rooney supports Arsenal to Premier League title<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/20\/wayne-rooney-gives-arsenal-a-surprise-title-win-after-losing-2-1-at-the-etihad\/#Can_Mikel_Arteta_handle_the_pressure\" >Can Mikel Arteta handle the pressure?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>(Photo credit: Richard Sellers\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar \/ Catherine Ivill &#8211; AMA via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wayne Rooney made a bold claim about Arsenal&#8217;s chances of winning the Premier League following Sunday&#8217;s disastrous 2-1 defeat at rivals Manchester City.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite the Gunners losing their place at the top of the table, the Manchester United legend remains convinced Mikel Arteta&#8217;s side are still favorites to lift the trophy.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"citation-23 citation-end-23\">Kai Havertz canceled out Rayan Cherki&#8217;s superb opener, and Erling Haaland&#8217;s clinical goal in the 65th minute gave City a big win at the Etihad Stadium.<source-footnote ng-version=\"0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\" _nghost-ng-c3142586533=\"\"><sup _ngcontent-ng-c3142586533=\"\" class=\"superscript\" data-turn-source-index=\"3\"\/><\/source-footnote><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above <span role=\"presentation\"><u>apple<\/u><\/span>  &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>Google play<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"citation-22 citation-end-22\">The result means City could move level on points with Arsenal if they win against Burnley this Wednesday, with many believing momentum has now shifted decisively to Manchester.<source-footnote ng-version=\"0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER\" _nghost-ng-c3142586533=\"\"><sup _ngcontent-ng-c3142586533=\"\" class=\"superscript\" data-turn-source-index=\"4\"\/><\/source-footnote><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rooney_supports_Arsenal_to_Premier_League_title\"><\/span>Rooney supports Arsenal to Premier League title<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On Match of the Day, Rooney offered a surprising perspective, claiming the race was far from its foreseen conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that despite City&#8217;s relentless run of form, the pressure of the &#8216;last spurt&#8217; often led to unintended consequences.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This title fight is not over yet. I feel there are still many twists and turns to come,&#8221; Rooney told MOTD.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s obviously going to be a close game, but City have one more game to try to win, so I still keep Arsenal as slim favorites to win.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rooney cited his experience as a five-time Premier League champion to explain why.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI myself have been in situations where I had to win every match to win the title. I would look at my matches and think, \u2018Oh, I have to win this or that match,\u2019 but it never works out that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_Mikel_Arteta_handle_the_pressure\"><\/span>Can Mikel Arteta handle the pressure?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>As the season enters its final five weeks, the focus shifts to the psychological resilience of both teams.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal are aiming for their first league title in 22 years, while Pep Guardiola&#8217;s City are chasing their seventh crown in nine seasons.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge for Arteta is to prevent a repeat of the past breakdowns that have given him a reputation as a &#8216;bridesmaid&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>City, on the other hand, have found themselves in similar situations several times in recent years and have come out on top each time.<\/p>\n<p>With a tough game against Newcastle United coming up next, the Gunners must rediscover the clinical edge that gave up on them at the Etihad and prove Rooney right.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Photo credit: Richard Sellers\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar \/ Catherine Ivill &#8211; AMA via Getty Images) Wayne Rooney made a bold claim about Arsenal&#8217;s chances of winning the Premier League following Sunday&#8217;s disastrous 2-1 defeat at rivals Manchester City. Despite the Gunners losing their place at the top of the table, the Manchester United legend remains convinced Mikel Arteta&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-46116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}