5 best Arsenal moments of 2025

The year 2025 is coming to an end and, for Arsenal, it will be remembered as a bittersweet year for the Mikel Arteta process.

There were several moments of brilliance – on and off the pitch – which helped cement the Gunners’ newfound status among Europe’s elite: reaching two semi-finals in addition to a third consecutive league runners-up proved their class.

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But alas, it ended the same way as the previous four years: without a trophy. This second place finish is a mere camouflage for what was more of a top four battle, as the team were comfortably beaten in both the UCL and Carabao Cup; Perhaps the less said about their FA Cup ‘journey’ in January the better.

A look back at Arsenal’s 5 best moments of 2025

So, from on-field heights and historic links to chasing a glorious future, here are five of Arsenal’s best moments in 2025.

1. Beat Real Madrid

Fans were mocked online for seeking a quarter-final clash with Real Madrid rather than Atletico in March; on April 16, these mockeries had disappeared.

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You can choose which game I’m referring to: the brilliant 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium in which Arsenal completely dominated the European champions and Declan Rice scored two incredible free-kicks, or the 2-1 win in Spain where the Gunners dashed any hopes of a ‘Remontada’ and became the first English team to win twice at the Bernabeu.

Over the course of those two nights, Rice would become the original Roberto Carlos, Gabriel Martinelli would channel his inner Thierry Henry and Arsenal themselves would take over Madrid-style to claim a place in the UCL semi-finals for the first time since 2009.

All of this was truly magical, it was a dream.

2. Signing of Martin Zubimendi

“You can’t tear him away from his boyhood club,” they said; “He rejected Liverpool and Real Madrid, no chance of him going to Arsenal,” they jeered.

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However, after a long and drawn-out negotiation, Arteta managed to lure Martin Zubimendi out of the Basque Country for just 60 million, thus deserving the full reward for his patient and proactive transfer strategy which saw a deal sealed with Real Sociedad as early as last January.

Teams across Europe had been looking for the Spaniard for several years. So his arrival in July was a real coup and Zubimendi has spent his time here since putting in masterful performances alongside Rice in the Gunners’ midfield.

The deal could well go down as one of the biggest of the Emirates era and it has proven to be a sign of things to come from Arsenal’s recruitment team, led ably by their new sporting director Andrea Berta.

3. Eberechi Eze scores hat-trick in NLD

The script couldn’t have been better written.

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Arsenal beat the Sp*rs last summer by hijacking their move for Eberechi Eze, and the player then rubbed salt in the wounds himself on derby day in November by scoring a sensational hat-trick.

His three goals had an impact only surpassed by that of a feverish home crowd and also marked his place in the history books: becoming the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in the NLD since Alan Sunderland in 1978.

Eze did not reach the heights expected of him either before or after this match, but despite this, his efforts that day were worth it.

4. Gabriel Martinelli makes history

Fans have spent the last five years searching for the Gabriel Martinelli of 2022/23; he hasn’t reached those levels yet, but he’s a lot more like his old self.

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Indeed, Europe has seen this version of Martinelli in the UCL and his brilliant goal against Club Brugge earlier this month saw him follow Eze into the club’s annals – he became the first Arsenal player in history to score in five consecutive UCL matches.

Add to this that the Gunners have never lost a match in which the Brazilian star scored, a run which currently stands at 51 games and is, once again, the best such run in the club’s history (also by far, next on the list is Kai Havertz with 28 games).

Few players are as deserving of such honors as Martinelli, whose hard work and attitude, even if the quality is sometimes lacking, have long endeared him to the Arsenal faithful – hopefully he carries that form into 2026.

5. Futures contracts are linked

Although Arsenal are in their ‘win now’ phase, Berta and co. have been busy determining the future of current stars.

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It began in June when Gabriel Magalhaes signed a new four-year deal and continued in the following months with Ethan Nwaneri, William Saliba and Myles Lewis-Skelly also extending their deals in north London.

Fans are all too familiar with the past and how the Gunners were badly burned by star players terminating their contracts. Seeing the hierarchy act so efficiently and avant-garde today is therefore refreshing, much more fitting for a team that has the ambition to compete for all the biggest prizes.

This ambition should soon be realized.

This article was originally published on www.paininthearsenal.com as Arsenal’s Top 5 Moments of 2025.