Arsenal have defeated Chelsea at Emirates Stadium to overtake Manchester City and return to the summit of the Premier League table.
Starting Lineup
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Kiwior, Magalhaes, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Xhaka; Saka, Jesus, Trossard.
Chelsea: Arrizabalaga; Azpilicueta, Fofana, Silva, Chilwell; Kante, Enzo Fernandez, Kovacic; Madueke, Aubameyang, Sterling.
Having dropped points in their last four games, Gunners needed a win against struggling Chelsea to return to the Premier League top.
The Premier League title hopefuls got the game to a frantic start, running riot on Chelsea defense in search of an early goal.
Arsenal took turns on the Chelsea half with a marathon of pressure. The Blues could not come out of their own half in the first 14 minutes as the spirited Arsenal side rolled the game with full force into the Blues’ half.
It was another scintillating display by Arsenal as they won duels and second balls, while dominating possession as well.
Chelsea rarely had a good hold of the ball as they foundered under the weight of Arsenal’s pressure.
It was just a matter of time before the Gunners find the opener after Kepa was forced to make good saves to deny the Gunners early chances.
Chelsea’s defense were also taken to task with Arsenal’s persistent fiery and cutting-edge press.
In the 18th minute, the Gunners finally took a deserved lead with Martin Oddegard’s beautiful strike.
Arsenal worked up the press perfectly from the left flank before Saka crossed into the box. Martin Oddegard, left unmarked, rushed in from the edge of the box to fire in the opener beyond the reach of Kepa.
Kepa dived and sprawled to the ground helplessly as the ball hit the underside of the bar and deflect down into the back of the net.
After Arsenal’s opener, Chelsea had their first spell of good possession of the ball and began to make their way off their own half to find an equaliser.
The Blues came across their first clear chance when a nice combination by Kante and Chilwell left the Arsenal back four wanting but thanks to Aaron Ramsdale who pointed out Chilwell’s curled strike after coming one-on-one with the Chelsea star.
Arsenal got back into the game after the short relapse that saw Chelsea wield control.
The Gunners nearly secured a penalty in the 27th minuted when Leandro Trossard’s shot seemed to have hit the arm of a Chelsea player but the referee refused to award the penalty, signaling the game should be played on.
In the 31st minute, Arsenal capped their dominant display with another goal from Martin Oddegard.
It was coming from the left flank again. Saka worked a pass to Xhaka who square it to Martin Oddegard to crash in Gunners’ second.
Chelsea spread more out of their half as they charge for a comeback but it was an invitation to nemesis as it left the Blues’ leaky defense more exposed.
Three minutes after Oddegard’s strike, Gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 for the Gunners. Chelsea had struggled to clear their lines before Ben White’s deep cross sparked a goal-mouth scramble that saw the ball fall into the path of Gabriel to fire home Arsenal’s third.
It was a first half rout for the Gunners. A deserved first half win for a better side. Chelsea did make late attempts to put one back but could not upset the Gunners’ sturdy defense. The first half ended with Arsenal leading 3-0.
Despite leading by three goals, Arsenal still had the better of Chelsea early in the second half.
The Gunners continued to dominate the game but lost it when Chelsea break on deadly and speedy counter attacks.
In the 65th minute, Madueke put one back for Chelsea after he lift Kovacic’s throughball over Ramsdale to make it 3-1.
Both sides made late substitutions with few minutes left to play. Arsenal maintained their 3-1 lead as Chelsea tried late attempts to grab something out of the game.
Both sides made great efforts, attacking and pressing for another goal as the match entered stoppage-time.
Madueke’s 65th minute strike turned out to be the match’s last goal as the game ended with Arsenal grabbing a deserved 3-1 win to overtake Manchester City and return to the Premier League top.
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