Gary Neville Hails Arsenal For Breathing Life Into Title Race

Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has heaped praises on Arsenal for keeping their title hopes alive with a crucial win against Newcastle on Sunday.

Arsenal beat the Magpies 2-0 at St James' Park to record back-to-back victories since losing 4-1 to Manchester City who are one point clear of the Gunners and have a game in hand.

Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, the Manchester United legend said: "They've really gone up in my estimations, Arsenal, from where they were in the last few weeks because people have said they lost their form, they didn't lose their form.

"They played brilliantly, the best I've seen a team play at Anfield in the first half-hour, at the London Stadium they were sensational for 35 minutes, they were really good against Chelsea. 

"They've not lost their form, if you do that you go down suddenly. 

"What they've done is lost their nerve in games where they've conceded a goal and not handled adversity well.

"They've looked a little bit panicky and tense, all those things you associate with pressure.

"It was so important that Arsenal had to keep Manchester City honest, and they've done that. It makes it really compelling." 

Neville also gave credit to Arteta for his team selection and singled Jorginho and Martin Odegaard for their impressive performances.

"I thought they might get eaten alive [on Sunday]," he added.

"The atmosphere was ferocious. Arsenal grew up here a lot. Mikel Arteta deserves a lot of credit for picking Jorginho. 

"Many would have said get Thomas Partey back in there. The class Martin Odegaard showed in the first 30 minutes was outstanding. 

"Jorginho composed his teammates and guided them. 

"(Gabriel) Martinelli and (Bukayo) Saka are still not at their best but the composure from Odegaard and Jorginho was there for all to see."