Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 3-1 win over London rivals Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
A terrible first-half display from the visitors allowed the Gunners to take a three-goal lead at the break as Martin Odegaard struck twice within the opening 31 minutes before Gabriel Jesus struck a third from close range.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a surprising start against his former club but was substituted at half-time after just nine touches and with Kai Havertz in charge of the line, Chelsea improved somewhat after the break. Noni Madueke scored his first goal for Chelsea in the 65th minute with a sloppy finish from a Mateo Kovacic through ball, but the damage was already done as Arsenal secured their first win in five games.
Arsenal end up suffering injury scares as defender Gabriel Magalhaes hobbled away with what appeared to be a muscular problem.
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Interim boss Frank Lampard has now lost all six games in charge of Chelsea, while Arsenal return to the top of the Premier League by two points after playing two more games than Manchester City, who take on West Ham at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Fast reaction
1. Shambolic Chelsea give Arsenal a chance to remain in title contention
Four games without a win and Manchester City’s rise to the top of the Premier League saw Arsenal’s confidence shaken, leaving a fragile unit at kick-off. Those four defeats gave Liverpool, West Ham, Southampton and Manchester City reasons to rally, whether it was pursuing Champions League qualification, avoiding relegation or trying to win the league.
But Chelsea, unmanaged and aloof in midfield, had nothing to bring them together except for caretaker Frank Lampard, who demanded to show pride in a London derby. This battle cry fell on deaf ears.
Even in a struggling season, Chelsea have been almost incomprehensibly bad here at the Emirates, allowing the Gunners to find their stride from a slow start. While Martin Odegaard’s opening game was well hit in the 18th minute, the space he was able to aim in was ridiculous.
In truth, Chelsea’s defense was shambolic for all three first-half goals, leading the gloating home fans to chant, “Are you Tottenham in disguise?” To be fair, Chelsea weren’t far from giving a refund to traveling fans to consider, as Spurs did after last month’s 6-1 defeat at Newcastle.
Chelsea’s camp isn’t happy these days. Thiago Silva feuded with Ben Chilwell after Arsenal’s second goal and while there was some improvement in the second half – epitomized by Noni Madueke’s 65th-minute consolation goal – the end of the season can’t come soon enough.
In contrast, the Gunners received a vital morale boost at a crucial juncture, letting City know they are still in the hunt ahead of Sunday’s crucial trip to Newcastle.
2. Lampard’s Aubameyang gamble backfires, embodies the terrible Chelsea
Lampard’s decision to start Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Chelsea felt like the product of Lampard looking to a beleaguered squad for a source of individual motivation.
Chelsea have indeed been struggling for goals lately, having previously netted just once in five games under Lampard. But the reasons for Aubameyang’s sudden start are certainly based on his abrupt transfer from Arsenal to Barcelona in January 2022 – a revenge ploy by the striker – rather than any sign of encouragement from his performance against Brentford last weekend.
It was a gamble that completely backfired.
In Aubameyang’s last start – the second leg – he had eight touches and lasted 64 minutes. Here he had nine in 45 minutes and four of those were kickoffs.
It was the nadir of a truly shambolic display from Chelsea, who have now lost all six games under Lampard, the club’s worst run since November 1993.
Facing Arsenal is a reminder of Aubameyang’s troubled past. His present is no better these days, so it’s inevitable that his future is somewhere else now.
3. Arteta and his players get a breather with roster rotation
There have been signs of physical and mental exhaustion as Arsenal ceded title advantage to Man City in recent weeks.
As such, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made three changes on Tuesday to freshen things up: Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho and Leandro Trossard replaced Rob Holding, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli. The latter trio were arguably Arsenal’s three worst performers in last week’s defeat by City and while those specific changes were also intended as a warning against dropping standards, the desired result was a vastly improved performance.
The game ended as a contest at the break, allowing Arteta to continue the theme of giving his designated players a breather, knocking out Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko for the final 16 minutes here.
It’s clear that the Gunners have relied on a creative core throughout the season: Odegaard’s brace against Chelsea became the third Arsenal player to surpass 20 goals and assists in the Premier League this season, after Saka (24-24). ) and Martinelli (20). Arsenal are the only team with three or more players to reach this milestone.
Best and worst performers
Best: Martin Odegaard, Arsenal
Used freedom in north London to finish twice well with left foot.
Best: Jorginho, Arsenal
Helped Arsenal control the game in midfield with a 90 percent pass competition rate of 70 pass attempts.
Best: Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal
Gave Arsenal a boost at the front of the field and his persistence was rewarded with his 10th goal of the season.
Worst: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Chelsea
Pulled off after an anonymous appearance at half-time – a miserable return to his former club.
Worst: Raheem Sterling, Chelsea
Nonexistent as an attacking threat. Of 24 passes he managed only 14 in 71 minutes and only 28.6 percent in the final third.
Worst: Wesley Fofana, Chelsea
Looked particularly shaky as Arsenal swarmed all over Chelsea in the first 45 minutes.
Highlights and notable moments
Martin Ødegaard opened the celebrations for Arsenal within the first 18 minutes. Granit Xhaka crossed the ball in the middle and Ødegaard, standing at the top of the box, smashed it in with perfect placement, hitting it off the inside of the bar and in.
Arsenal beat Chelsea first! #ASSES
📺: @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/BHgDXsCQsU
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 2, 2023
From then on, Arsenal were in cruise control and Ødegaard scored again in the 31st minute.
Gabriel Jesus joined the fun in the 34th minute and completed a scramble in the penalty area to make it 3-0.
Arsenal DOMINANCE. #ASSES
📺: @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/6q8TJ0gDpm
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) May 2, 2023
After the game: What the coaches and players said
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on his team’s performance: “The first 60 minutes I thought the team played really well. We have to be ourselves and that’s all I want to see from our team. Speed, quality, movement, two nice goals, we bond with our crowd connected and a goal created an incredible atmosphere. They were incredibly supportive of what we did and we wanted to earn the right to be at the top of the league. We are and we’re delighted to be there.”
Arteta on Gabriel Magalhaes’ apparent injury: “He couldn’t go on. We have to assess him – he wasn’t feeling well.”
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard on his team’s performance: “We were too nice in every way to play us in the first half. In the second half we played a lot more like a team that has a threat up there. In the first half we were too easy to play.”
Key Statistics (provided by ESPN Stats & Information Research)
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Chelsea have lost all six games (all competitions) since Frank Lampard took over as caretaker manager. The last time they lost six in a row was October-November 1993.
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Chelsea have lost their last 10 league games by first clean sheet and the last league win by first clean sheet was 1 October 2022 against Crystal Palace.
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Martin Ødegaard scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season for Arsenal. He is now one behind Gabriel Martinelli for most Premier League goals for the team. This is Ødegaard’s third Premier League brace of the season, the team’s most. Ødegaard has never scored a hat-trick in his professional career.
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Arsenal now have four players with more than 10 league goals this season (Martinelli, Ødegaard, Saka, Jesus). This is the first time since the 2012 Arsenal team that they have four players with 10+ goals each (Walcott, Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski).
Next
Arsenal: The first-place Gunners visit third-placed Newcastle United on Sunday 7 May for a game that could have major implications in both the Premier League title fight and the Champions League top-four race.
Chelsea: The Blues from midfield meet on Saturday 6th June
#Chelsea #shockingly #poor #Arsenal #warn #Man #City #title #race #isnt
