- Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-1 on Tuesday evening at the Emirates to return to the top of the Premier League
- Arsenal are now two points clear of Manchester City in the title race. However, they have played two games more than City
Arsenal kept their title bid alive last evening as they secured a 3-1 win over Chelsea to return to the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal, who had gone four league games without a win, responded magnificently against abysmal Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners were already 3-0 up inside 34 minutes, thanks to Martin Odegaard’s brace and Gabriel Jesus’ close range effort. Noni Madueke pulled one back for Chelsea in the second half.
Martin Odegaard scored twice against Chelsea. Photo/ Nationwide 90FM.
Arsenal are now two points clear of Manchester City in the title race. However, they have played two games more than City.
Chelsea, who fell to a sixth-straight loss under manager Frank Lampard, are currently languishing in 12th place. One wouldn’t be wrong to say the Blues are a team seemingly lacking any gameplan. Chelsea fans have suffered so much this season.
Speaking after the 3-1 defeat, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard described his team’s performance in the first half as not good at all.
“The performance in the first half was nowhere near good enough. Too nice to play against, too passive. Defensively the line wasn’t coming up, which was giving them space. In possession we weren’t playing over their press. All the things that make you a nice team to play against, we did. The second half was better but the result’s relatively confirmed by then.” Sky Sports quotes Frank Lampard.
How Arsenal Beat Chelsea
The Emirates was alive before kick-off as fans showed up in large numbers to support their respective teams. Arsenal, who have made an outstanding contribution to this season, started the game with the determination to win. The Gunners bullied and thoroughly dismantled Chelsea in the first half of the game. It would have been worse had it not been Kepa Arrizabalaga ‘dying’ for the team.
Arsenal came close to opening the scoring in the fifth minute after Cesar Azpilicueta sold Kepa short with a poor backward header. Kepa saved bravely at the feet of Xhaka to keep the Blues into the game. But that was just the beginning of Azpilicueta’s troubles.
Arsenal soon ran riot on Azpilicueta’s wing, with Xhaka picking out the unmarked Martin Odegaard who scored on both occasions. Chelsea had their first and only chance of the first half in between Odegaard’s strikes when Aaron Ramsdale made an amazing save to deny Ben Chilwell.
Chelsea were left with a mountain to climb at the Emirates after Gabriel Jesus fired home his tenth goal of the season in the 34th minute.
When the action got back underway in the second half, Arsenal picked up where they left off in the first half, creating several chances. However, non materialized.
Noni Madueke gave Chelsea fans something to cling on when he found the back of the net after Arsenal switched off defensively. Despite the Blues trying to pull another goal back, Arsenal held on to the last second of the game.
Noni Madueke pulled a goal back for Chelsea in the second half. Photo/ Netherlands Posts English.
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