Arsenal hit Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, to return to the top Premier League Table and leave their London rivals in the seventh. Gabriel scored the only goal. Bukayo SakaThe corner was missed by many Chelsea players.
Here are the top talking points broken down by our writers…
Arteta and Arsenal can win the trophy.
It was Mikel Arteta’s 150th game in charge of Arsenal, equaling his most as a player, but the more impressive statistic is that it was his 87th win – more than any previous manager, including Herbert Chapman and Bertie Mine. , George Graham and Arsene Wenger, at the same time.
Figures like these can be deceiving; Graham won the Premier League in his third season in charge, while Wenger won it in his second. It was a different era; In the year The Invincibles won by 90.
Gabriel scored the lone goal (Photo: Mark Atkins/Getty Images)
Arsenal have more points than the Invincibles at the same level in 2003-04 – and if they have the advantage over Manchester City, they need to keep it.
It was the kind of assured, authoritative performance that tells you it’s possible. Arsenal headed to Stamford Bridge with a game plan and, despite a lack of momentum in the first half, it’s safe to say they could have executed that plan better. Regardless of the rest of this season, their progress under Arteta since the start of 2021 has been impressive.
Oliver Kay
Aubameyang could not show a point for his former club
Chelsea have good memories of Didier Drogba and what. Diego Costa He used to make Arsenal defenders.
Both men played an important role as Chelsea dominated their opponents, and it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s first time in blue.
He didn’t come into the game as a better scorer. Purchased from Barcelona £12m ($13.7m) Aubameyang had just three goals to his name on the September deadline. That run came earlier last month, one of which was in the Premier League.
It didn’t take long for Arsenal fans to tell what they now think of the 33-year-old, who joined manager Mikel Arteta on a free transfer in January. After the first touch was blown loudly and caught for a late tackle Ben WhiteHe was the target of a very unpleasant song. His 92 goals in 163 appearances for the North London club are long forgotten.
Chelsea were unable to get Aubameyang into the game in the first half, during which he had just four touches of the ball – and none of those were shots. There were a couple of occasions Kai Havertz He had a chance to cross the ball and made a mistake.
His first two tackles after the break spoke volumes for Chelsea’s attacking threat, breaking free from his own area.
It was an unconvincing shot that was blocked shortly after, but it was no surprise when he was replaced. Armando Broja After Arsenal took the lead.
Simon Johnson
Jesus drew the blank again
It was nothing new this season, but it was repeated today. Gabriel Jesus lacking a clinical edge in front of goal.
In the first half, Arsenal built the ball from third to third in a beautiful way to separate Chelsea. Gabriel Martinelli Whose cross found Jesus for the head. The result? Just wide. The verdict? He should have scored.
such as The athletics As we have already reported, this is a representation of the life of Jesus, taking into account the goals and objectives he achieved.
Indeed, looking at his average 900-minute roll since 2019-20, Jesus has rarely capitalized on the opportunities he’s had by regularly undercutting his goalscoring output compared to his expected goals.
Of course, the good thing is that Jesus still gets into those lucrative positions to score. Throughout his time in the Premier League, Jesus averaged close to 0.5 goals per 90 minutes, averaging one goal every two games.
This is not to forget the universal contribution that Jesus makes – dropping into pockets of space, floating wide to create for others and being a pest out of possession to prevent the opponent from building up from behind.
With Arsenal winning games and flying high in the table, Jesus’ performance in front of goal could be forgiven. If titles are on the line and the margins are better at the end of the season, Jesus may be less sympathetic to the lack of a clinical edge.
Mark Carey
The pressure on Potter is lifted
Graham Potter has a tougher task than Thomas Tuchel to win over Chelsea fans.
Replacing a popular coach is not going to be easy, especially when the season is just over and you don’t have a pre-season to work with the players.
Potter’s honeymoon Chelsea’s honeymoon ended in humiliating fashion last week with a 4-1 defeat to his former club Brighton, but that lackluster surrender to their London rivals at Stamford Bridge will do much more damage.
For most of the game, Chelsea’s players seemed reluctant to take care of the ball and none of their play was as instinctive as their opponents.
This is understandable. Potter is trying to change the style of football employed by Tuchel, who is rigid. Chelsea players are trying to adapt to him and him.
Tuchel was a favorite among Chelsea followers in last year’s impressive Champions League triumph. But it must not be forgotten that in Frank Lampard he was appointed from a fan favorite but there were no fans moaning and groaning because of the Covid-19 protocols when he tried things out. In the first weeks, the investigation into Germany was not so severe. As the fans returned to the ground, Tuchel had already confirmed his decision to replace Lampard.
That being said, two points from the last four Premier League games should be questioned and there may be pressure on Potter to perform better in the two games before the World Cup against Manchester City (League Cup) and Newcastle at home.
Simon Johnson
The return of Zinchenko transfer
Arteta has kept changes to a minimum this season, usually reluctant to change a winning side, but it was an easy decision to call Oleksandr Zinchenko back into the starting line-up after a calf injury.
It was the Ukrainian’s first appearance in five weeks and second appearance in two months, and it tells you something about how resilient they are without a player who was felt to make a difference in the opening weeks of the campaign.
Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu have offered very different qualities at left-back in recent weeks, but Zinchenko brings a different aspect to Arsenal’s possession. For much of the first half, Pep Guardiola has moved into the kind of deep midfield role that Philipp Lahm demanded at Bayern Munich and Joao Cancelo at Manchester City, or that Jurgen Klopp tried with Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool.
Once again, the advantages of such a deployment of Zinchenko were clear. In the third minute, Zinchenko’s pass from Aaron Ramsdale in midfield released Martin Odegaard and eventually Bukayo Saka ran into a free Mark Cukurella.
Like Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, the approach comes with certain risks. Chelsea’s two promising attacks in the first half came from Zinchenko exploiting the space left behind. Opposition managers take note of this. But when a team dominates games, it’s easier than saying Arsenal in their current form.
Oliver Kay
Xhaka showed a calm, controlled Arsenal.
Man of the match? There was no shortage of candidates wearing red.
BT Sport has gone William Saliba And it was easy to see why. He and Gabriel excelled in central defense. Granit Xhaka And Thomas Party in front of them.
The front four – Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli and Jesus – have all impressed in different ways, playing full-back as opposed to Ben White and Zinchenko.
In short, it was an outstanding collective performance. But it’s hard to keep him from coming back into the team’s spine. Saliba and Gabriel were the best in all areas, with Xhaka and Partey controlling the game brilliantly while scoring the decisive goal in the last minute.
Even when it comes to pushing and shoving Trevoh Chalobah During the stoppage time, Xhaka appeared in control, in contrast to his previous warmth.
Think of all those times Arsenal have shown a particularly soft center at Stamford Bridge. This was the complete opposite.
Oliver Kay
Chelsea are left behind.
With Graham Potter still trying to find his best system and personnel at Chelsea, today’s display showed a lack of real threat on their left flank.
With Aubameyang and Havertz roaming the front line – especially in the first half – as Chelsea built up their left flank, Cukurella had very few options, meaning Arsenal could simply shut down that flank and force Chelsea to attack. Down to the right.
Looking at the numbers, 44 per cent of Chelsea’s attacking touches were on their right – the highest proportion of the Premier League campaign. Raheem Sterling’s natural wide threat – combined with Zinchenko’s advanced left-back presence – lent itself to great moves, but Chelsea’s attack was close to non-existent down the left.
A long-term injury to striker Ben Chilwell hasn’t helped but, more clearly, Potter is still unable to find the best balance in the squad at the moment.
Mark Carey
(Photo: Mark Atkins/Getty Images)