Mesut Ozil: Personal records mean nothing unless Arsenal win titles

How Arsenal fell out of the title race

• 1/9 Out of the running

  Arsenal are all but certain to miss out on the Premier League title once more - but how did their title challenge fall apart?
  Standard Sport examines the run of results that has seen Arsenal fall out of contention.

  Paul Gilham/Getty Images

• 2/9 Arsenal 2 Leicester 1

  Date: February 14
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 2 points
  A remarkable comeback capped by Danny Welbeck's last-minute header in his first appearance since April 2015 had Arsenal fans believing this would be their year.
  At half-time they trailed Leicester by seven points thanks to Jamie Vardy's penalty but goals from Theo Walcott and Welbeck slashed that gap to just two.

• 3/9 Manchester United 3 Arsenal 2

  Date: February 28
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 5 points
  Against an under-strength side missing Wayne Rooney Arsenal were favourites to claim a rare victory at Old Trafford. However disastrous defending from the visitors gave 18-year-old Marcus Rashford two goals and Arsenal faced a huge task to get back into the game.
  Welbeck and Mesut Ozil struck for Wenger's side but Ander Herrera's third was to be the decisive blow for Arsenal.

• 4/9 Arsenal 1 Swansea 2

  Date: March 2
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 5 points
  After Leicester had dropped points against West Brom the night before Arsenal seemed well-placed to take advantage. Joel Campbell gave the Gunners an early lead but calamitous defending allowed Wayne Routledge to equalise before a mistake from Petr Cech gifted Ashley Williams a winner.

• 5/9 Tottenham 2 Arsenal 2

  Date: March 5
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 8 points
  A creditable draw under normal circumstances but Arsenal were left cursing Francis Coquelin's red card on 55 minutes. At that stage they had been leading 1-0 through Aaron Ramsey's goal but a one-two punch from Toby Alderweireld and Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead.
  Alexis Sanchez claimed a late equaliser for the Gunners but there was a looming sense it might not be enough.

• 6/9 Everton 0 Arsenal 2

  Date: March 19
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 11 points
  Back to winning ways in impressive style, Welbeck struck early but it was Nigerian youngster Alex Iwobi, fresh from a start away to Barcelona, who stole the show with the second goal.

• 7/9 Arsenal 4 Watford 0

  Date: April 2
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 8 points
  Arsenal continued their winning run with one of their most clinical performances over recent months. Alexis Sanchez scored the opener in the first four minutes before Iwobi, Hector Bellerin and Walcott added sheen to a win that kept the Gunners faint title hopes alive.

• 8/9 West Ham 3 Arsenal 3

  Date: April 9
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 10 points
  Another occasion when Arsenal's performance was not necessarily to be found wanting but the result did little to aid their slim title hopes. It all seemed so different two minutes before half-time, when goals from Ozil and Sanchez had set the visitors on course for a comfortable victory.
  But Arsenal could not deal with Andy Carroll, who scored a hat-trick in eight minutes either side of half-time, and needed a scrappy goal on 70 minutes from Laurent Koscielny to earn a point.

• 9/9 Arsenal 1 Crystal Palace 1

  Date: April 17
  Gap to league leaders: Arsenal trail Leicester by 13 points
  A scrappy draw in front of an Emirates missing several thousand fans. Arsenal did not necessarily deserve Sanchez's opener on the stroke of half-time but they ought to have been able to hold on to their advantage against a poor Palace side.
  However Petr Cech failed to keep out a tame effort from Yannick Bolasie and Arsenal suddenly found themselves in a battle with the Manchester sides for a top four place.