Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea
Arsenal’s Christmas became a whole lot happier today thanks to a 3-1 victory over high flying Chelsea.
Goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka handed the Gunners a welcome three points to lift them away from the drop zone and give their season a much needed kick-start. In some quarters this game, Premier League: Arsenal vs Chelsea, was a test of Mikel Arteta’s ability to turn the Gunners’ fortunes around and he passed with flying colours. The hosts were the better side from start to finish, well balanced and hungry for the ball, and a late goal from Tammy Abraham did little to spoil that winning feeling
Highlights of the game
In a contest packed with goal-mouth action Mason Mount hit the woodwork in an early Chelsea attack, but as the Gunners gradually took control of the game they got their just deserts on the half hour. Xhaka found Kieran Tierney in space and when the wing-back jinked his way into the penalty area he was fouled by Reece James to give the Gunners a golden chance.
Lacazette sent Edouard Mendy the wrong way to score his first goal in nine Premier League outings and the hosts were on their way. The pre-match Arsenal vs Chelsea betting odds, here at SBOTOP, offered a big price of 3.64 on the hosts to win and, by the break the Gunners were firmly odds on. There will have been more than a few Arsenal fans disappointed to see Granit Xhaka in the starting line-up following his red card against Burnley which cost his team two points. But the Swiss enforcer was superb throughout the first half and when he had a free-kick chance from 25 yards out he curled a beauty into the top right corner leaving Mendy rooted to his spot.
Arteta’s hand had been forced in his selection and it was one of his youngsters who made it 3-0, shortly after the break, to take the game away from Chelsea. It’s not entirely clear whether Bukayo Saka was crossing or shooting on 55 minutes, but his effort looped over Mendy and into the net off the far post.
The Gunners searched for a fourth and young Brazilian striker Gabriel Martinelli tested Mendy twice, and when Mohamed Elneny met a corner he smashed his shot against the crossbar. Tammy Abraham pulled a consolation back for Chelsea on 84 minutes. VAR took a long look but the England striker was marginally onside hen he poked the ball home. That gave the Blues a glimmer of hope and Jorginho had a chance to make it a jittery last few minutes for the Gunners when Pablo Mari fouled Mount and he was presented with a spot-kick; but Bernd Leno saved to cap off a great day for the Arteta’s men.
Key statistics
Arsenal had scored just twice in the last four league games but they bettered that in less than an hour on this famous night.
With seven shots to three on target the hosts thoroughly deserved their first Premier League win in eight games and the first at the Emirates for three months.
Abraham’s late consolation made it 21 second half goals this season for the Blues, the highest tally in the division.
And Granit Xhaka is the first Arsenal player to score a free-kick against Chelsea since Thierry Henry back in 2004.
What’s next?
Plenty of teams around the top six will have been watching the Arsenal vs Chelsea updates with interest. There was four- goal thriller earlier in the day when Leicester City and Manchester United shared the points and favourites Liverpool and Manchester City have home games to come against West Brom and Newcastle United.
On Monday Chelsea will try to get back to winning ways when they host Aston Villa, and that won’t be easy. The Villains have won ten points from the last four games and most recently have back-to-back 3-0 victories over West Brom and Crystal Palace. Today’s win over the Eagles lifted them to fifth place with 25 points, and they have a game in hand over the teams around them.
The Gunners have a trip to Brighton on Tuesday and that’s the first of four games against relegation candidates, with West Brom, Crystal Palace and Newcastle to follow. Today’s victory lifted them only one place in the table to 14th but this win was huge, and if they play like this from hereon, they could be around the top six within a month.
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