Arsenal’s combating spirit was rekindled by holding the Premier League title hopes alive following a commanding victory over a Chelsea group that appears to be in want of life assist underneath Frank Lampard.
Arsenal returned to the highest of the standings – for a day at the least – by dismantling Chelsea 3-1 on the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to finish a four-game winless run that noticed its management of the title race slip away.
The Gunners channeled their disappointment over final week’s 4-1 loss to rival Manchester City right into a dominant first-half show, going 3-0 up inside 34 minutes as Chelsea slumped to a sixth straight loss in all competitions underneath Lampard.
Martin Odegaard scored two almost similar targets and Gabriel Jesus added the third minutes later. The guests provided little in response till Chukwunonso Madueke pulled one again within the sixty fifth however by no means got here near staging a comeback because the hosts noticed out the sport.
“We came out with a different spirit, a different team to last time (against City),” Odegaard told Sky Sports. “It damage after the (City) recreation and we used this anger and the frustration on this recreation to bounce again.”
The win places Arsenal two factors above Manchester City atop the standings, however on condition that Pep Guardiola’s group has two video games in hand – together with at residence towards West Ham on Wednesday – it might not keep there for lengthy.
Arsenal was coming off the loss to City and a run of three straight attracts earlier than that. But Mikel Arteta’s group could not have requested for a lot simpler opposition because it tried to get again on monitor.
“If we wish to have any probability to win the league, we needed to win immediately,” Arteta stated.
Granit Xhaka created the 2 opening targets in related trend, sending a low cross into the field from the left to select Odegaard, who beat goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga together with his left foot each instances.
That took any remaining air out of a Chelsea group that has nothing to play for and is languishing in twelfth place underneath its third supervisor of the season in Lampard, who is about to depart on the finish of the marketing campaign.
Jesus slotted within the third simply three minutes after Odegaard’s second following a rebound.
Lampard gave former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a uncommon begin, however the Gunners’ early domination meant that 4 of the ahead’s first seven touches within the recreation have been kickoffs. He was taken off at halftime.
“First-half performance wasn’t good enough. In every way,” Lampard said. “We have been good to play towards, in each manner. … If you play like that, you get what you get.”
Arsenal missed two good possibilities to increase the lead after the break as Thiago Silva cleared a header from fellow middle again Gabriel off the road within the fiftieth and Kepa saved a low shot from Xhaka three minutes later.
Madueke gave Chelsea a little bit of hope as he bought behind Oleksandr Zinchenko to satisfy a ball excessive and beat Aaron Ramsdale from shut vary.
While Chelsea’s depth elevated after that, Ramsdale did not have one other save to make till Kai Havertz tried a shot from a troublesome angle in damage time.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
