\u201cWell, it is not good for the blood pressure of these Arsenal fans,\u201d said Sky Sports commentator and former Arsenal striker Alan Smith after the 2-0 victory over Everton. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was a really tough watch for so long. Is it going to continue in this vein? We will wait and see. But for now, three points are all that will matter to them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Couldn\u2019t have said it better myself, Alan.<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal, nine points clear at the top of the table, are advancing towards winning their first Premier League title in 22 years. <\/span><\/p>\n Out of the 48 games that they have played in all competitions this season, they have lost just three times, scored the most Premier League goals (61), conceded the fewest (22), and kept the most clean sheets (15). Not to mention the fact that the possibility of their local rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, being relegated seems to increase by the matchday.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to this, Mikel Arteta\u2019s side are in the round of 16 of the Champions League, the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and will face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on March 22. A historic quadruple remains on the cards.<\/span><\/p>\n Sounds pretty plain sailing for those whose allegiance is to the red side of north London, right? Well, not exactly.<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal have got to this well-earned position at the detriment of their followers\u2019 cardiovascular health. More than two decades of near misses have piled substantial pressure on people within the club and the fans supporting from the outside.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Arsenal fans singing during the game against Everton (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n So, let\u2019s take a quick look back at recent history and some examples of the club throwing away golden opportunities to win the title.<\/span><\/p>\n In the 2007-08 campaign, Arsenal collapsed to finish third, having led by five points after 26 games. Then, in 2015-16, a<\/span> memorable 95th-minute winner from Danny Welbeck sealed a 2-1 victory over table-topping Leicester City on February 14. That win saw Arsenal move within two points of Claudio Ranieri\u2019s surprise leaders, and despite beating the eventual champions home and away in that campaign, Arsenal finished as runners-up.<\/span><\/p>\n And then the three-peat of second-place finishes over the last three completed seasons. The damaging William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu injuries that derailed the 2022-23 campaign, losing the title by just two points in 2023-24 after taking the battle with Manchester City to the final day and then the injury-hit, red card-laden 2024-25 season that saw Liverpool win the league. <\/span><\/p>\n To rub salt into the wounds, Arsenal are often taunted with \u201csecond again ole ole\u201d chants from opposition fans.<\/span><\/p>\n Not only is the taste of recent heartbreaks still on the tongue of many Arsenal fans, but there is also the manner in which the league leaders have been winning games this season, which has shortened the fingernails of the club\u2019s fans.<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal have won a game by just a single goal on 14 occasions this season in all competitions \u2014 29.2 per cent of their fixtures.<\/span><\/p>\n The fans had to endure nail-biting conclusions in away victories over Manchester United in August, Everton in December, and Bournemouth and Chelsea in January (in the Carabao Cup). <\/span>September saw a 93rd-minute goal from Gabriel Martinelli secure a precious point against Manchester City and a 96th-minute header from Gabriel earned a vital win against Newcastle United in the following league game.<\/span><\/p>\n It was a similar theme in December. The home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers was earned thanks to a Yerson Mosquera own goal in the 94th minute and the London club secured their place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals after a penalty-shootout victory over Crystal Palace (having conceded in the 95th minute).<\/span><\/p>\n Not to mention the late daggers the team have often been on the receiving end of this season: the Dominik Szoboszlai free kick in the defeat by Liverpool in August, the Brian Brobbey second-half added-time equaliser in the draw with Sunderland in November and Emiliano Buendia\u2019s last-kick-of-the-game winner in the defeat at Villa Park in December. Even Mansfield Town had Arsenal sweating right up until the final whistle in the FA Cup on March 7.<\/span><\/p>\n Victories for Arteta\u2019s side this season have seldom been without a stressful ending. Gabriel and Saliba have often had to make several clearances, David Raya has frequently had to tip a goal-bound effort over the bar and, as a result, Arsenal fans\u2019 nerves are never untested.<\/span><\/p>\n So, <\/span>The Athletic<\/span><\/i> decided to see \u2014 literally \u2014 what effect Arsenal are having on their supporters\u2019 heart rates. <\/span><\/p>\n According to the British Heart Foundation<\/a> (BHF), a normal resting heart rate should be between 60 to 100 beats per minute (BPM). The BHF also defines<\/a> an arrhythmia (or heart rhythm problem) as when the heart beats too slowly, too quickly, or irregularly. Finally, the BHF says that a resting heart rate above 100 bpm is too fast for most people.<\/span><\/p>\n Now let\u2019s dive into the beats per minute (BPM) my Apple Watch calculated while I watched Arsenal try to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League against Everton on Saturday from my living room.<\/span><\/p>\n As I sat down, my BPM was 65. Jordan Pickford\u2019s brilliant save from a Bukayo Saka header in the 13th minute saw it rise to 75, Riccardo Calafiori\u2019s acrobatic penalty-box block saw it increase to 80 and my BPM was 76 as I angrily protested Arsenal not being awarded a penalty after Michael Keane stood on Kai Havertz\u2019s foot in the 23rd minute. <\/span><\/p>\n It was back up to 82 after a stunning Raya save stopped a goal-bound effort from Beto early in the second half. In what turned out to be a very frustrating and nail-biting second half as Arsenal chased a goal, my heart rate fluctuated between the high 80s and 90s before two moments that saw it hit higher levels.<\/span><\/p>\n Viktor Gyokeres\u2019 89th-minute opening goal saw my BPM recorded as 107 (this might have something to do with me running around my living room in celebration). <\/span><\/p>\n This was of course usurped by my highest BPM recording of the day \u2014 a rate of 134 that coincided with my even more boisterous and jubilant reaction to 16-year-old Max Dowman\u2019s 97th-minute game-sealing goal. What a moment for him, what a raucous noise for my neighbours to hear and, frankly, what a concerning heart rate reading.<\/span><\/p>\n \n Arsenal players and fans celebrate Dowman’s goal (Alex Pantling\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It remained in the 100s for several minutes after the final whistle before dwindling back to a healthy BPM in the low 70s. Throughout the game, my average heart rate was 83 BPM.<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal have at least another 10 games to play this season and should they progress in the Champions League and FA Cup, this number will only grow. So it looks like a fluctuating heart rate for two hours at a time at least twice a week will continue until May.<\/span><\/p>\n Arsenal\u2019s 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League on March 1 saw Raya forced into a remarkable late save to deny 10\u2011man Chelsea a late equaliser in added time. Arteta said after the game: \u201cMy heart almost stopped, but David\u2019s hand was there to bring it back to life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I desperately want Arsenal to get over the line and win their first Premier League title since 2004. <\/span>But, after conducting this experiment, I can safely say that if it isn\u2019t too much to ask, could Arteta perhaps instruct his team to do so in a manner that is more considerate to Arsenal fans\u2019 cardiovascular systems? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cWell, it is not good for the blood pressure of these Arsenal fans,\u201d said Sky Sports commentator and former Arsenal striker Alan Smith after the 2-0 victory over Everton. \u201cIt … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipsport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/03\/15123100\/fans-1-scaled-e1773592291317.jpg\")
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