Aspirants for titles Tuesday night’s 5-0 demolition of London rivals Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium has propelled Arsenal three points clear of the leaders in the Premier League standings.
In a frenetic, end-to-end first half, both teams had plenty of chances, but Michael Arteta’s team led by a narrow margin at the break. Leandro Trossard gave the Gunners the lead in the fourth minute, his second goal in as many days.
Chelsea, who had just defeated Everton 6-0 in their Premier League encounter, were overwhelmed by the Arsenal combination of Kai Havertz and Ben White, who each scored twice, as the home team achieved their greatest victory over the Blues since a 5-1 victory in 1930.
The Gunners’ victory ended a losing streak of two games at the Emirates, and they now lead the Premier League by three points over second-place Liverpool. The Reds still have a game left to play, while the league’s defending champions, Manchester City, who are four points behind in third, also have two games remaining.
Chelsea’s record of eight Premier League games without a loss has come to an end. They lost the rematch against Arsenal 3-1 at Stamford Bridge earlier this season. This is the first time Chelsea has lost three straight games against Arsenal since 2001–2003.
With 11 Premier League losses so far this season, Mauricio Pochettino’s team is currently in ninth place, three points behind both Newcastle United, in sixth place, and Manchester United, in seventh place, both of which are playing on Wednesday night.
Arsenal’s quick start is sparked by the in-form Trossard.
Cole Palmer, who has been directly involved in 41% of Chelsea’s goals this season, was absent from the matchday squad due to illness. Captain Conor Gallagher was left to fill in as the number 10 as a result. This was the big team news prior to kickoff.
Pochettino made four changes to the Blues starting lineup from the FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City last weekend. Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Mykhaylo Mudryk, and Alfie Gilchrist (the latter being picked in a Premier League XI for the first time) were all given starts.
Regarding Arsenal, Arteta made two changes to the lineup that defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Molineux the previous time around. Thomas Partey, who replaced Jorgeginho, was given just his second start since August. Takehiro Tomiyasu was also added to the squad.
Trossard opened the scoring inside the first four minutes of the Gunners’ encounter against Chelsea, his third goal in four games and his tenth in the top flight this season, to commemorate his 50th Premier League game for the team after he scored in the victory against Wolves.
Declan Rice started the play with a strong driving drive forward, setting up Trossard for a left-footed shot from a close angle that went through Djordje Petrovic’s legs. Petrovic will have been unhappy not to stop the Belgian at his near post.
vivacious opening: thirty minutes on each side
In the first thirty minutes of play, there were sixteen shots on goal between the two teams; Arsenal had 11 of those, although Chelsea also had a few opportunities to tie the score.
As the man taking corners, Mudryk’s first attempt was expertly whipped into the danger area for Badiashile to flick towards the back post. Disasi, however, was unable to get a foot on the ball as it flew out for a goal kick.
Nicolas Jackson outpaced William Saliba for pace down the left flank before a cross deflected off Gabriel Magalhaes and struck the outside of the post. Jackson was lucky to remain on the field as a late, stud-raised challenge on Tomiyasu’s ankle was cleared by VAR.
Then, just before Enzo Fernandez at the other end fired a shot from the edge of the box that narrowly missed the left-hand post, Trossard’s attempt took a nasty deflection off Disasi inside the area. Petrovic made an incredible reaction save.
As halftime approached, Chelsea played well, and Jackson had a good chance to score. However, the Senegalese player hesitated to meet Gallagher’s inviting cross from the right after Saliba lifted his boot; the ball bounced off Jackson’s face and was easily collected by David Raya.
Havertz and White score twice as elegantly as Arsenal defeats Chelsea.
After the break, Arsenal got off to a strong start. Chelsea was grateful to Petrovic for stopping both Rice and Havertz at his near post, but in the 52nd minute, the Serbian goalkeeper was unable to save right-back White from close range.
A Gunners corner eventually caught Chelsea off guard. Rice’s attempt from the edge of the box was blocked, setting up White for a first-time left-footed goal that curled under Petrovic’s body and into the bottom corner.
Havertz scored Arsenal’s third goal just four minutes later, haunting his old team. The hosts were lucky that the goal stood, though, as Gabriel appeared to drag Noni Madueke to the ground before setting up Martin Odegaard for the counterattack.
Nevertheless, Havertz was passed through on goal by Odegaard, an outstanding player for the Gunners, who controlled the midfield. The former Blues forward then sidestepped Marc Cucurella’s challenge and fired a strong shot over Petrovic from about ten yards out.
Not long after, Havertz was celebrating his second goal of the evening, curling a left-footed effort from the box’s edge in off the post to make history as the first Premier League player to score a brace against Chelsea after having previously played for them in the division.
With a bit of luck, White’s planned cross from the right was expertly cushioned into the top corner, beating Petrovic all the way, bringing the Gunners’ total to five goals.
Chelsea’s solitary chance on target during the 90 minutes came in the 69th minute, when replacement Raheem Sterling poked a free kick straight down Raya’s throat. Chelsea were obviously second-best in the second half of the match and struggled to offer any danger in front of goal.
In the dying moments, Rice had another chance to give Arsenal a sixth goal when he curled a shot off the crossbar. Substitutes Fabio Vieira and Gabriel Martinelli also had chances to add goals, but Arteta’s team ultimately had to settle for a five-goal victory over their West London rivals.
Chelsea’s trip to Aston Villa, a team vying for a spot in the top four, is scheduled for this Saturday evening. Meanwhile, Arsenal’s North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur is scheduled for Sunday.
