Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Trossard, Saka, Gyokeres
Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Havertz, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table back to five points after squeezing past Chelsea 2-1 at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, thanks to goals from William Saliba and Jurrien Timber.
Mikel Arteta named an unchanged side following the 4-1 derby win over Sp*rs, with Piero Hincapie and Eberechi Eze keeping their places in the team.
Kai Havertz was a welcome returnee to the bench against his former club, although Ben White and Martin Odegaard both missed out on the matchday squad through injury.
FIRST HALF
It was an open start from both teams and Arsenal were nearly gifted an opportunity to take an early lead when Robert Sanchez showed too much of the ball to Viktor Gyokeres under no pressure but could just about scramble clear, before Martin Zubimendi blazed over from the edge of the box.
But Chelsea were finding space between the lines and had a good chance themselves when a nothing free kick deflected perfectly into the path of Sarr but he couldn’t connect properly, before Eberechi Eze tried lobbing Sanchez from the halfway line but the Spaniard raced back to his line to palm away, although the linesman missed an obvious corner with the ball two yards out.
Eventually it was Arteta’s men who took the lead and it came from a Bukayo Saka corner, which was delivered perfectly to the back post where Gabriel escaped James and headed across for Saliba – whose effort bobbled in off Sarr and into the net. 1-0.
Per Opta data, Arsenal have gone 1-0 up from a corner on nine occasions in the Premier League this season; the joint-most by a team in a single campaign – along with Southampton in 1994-95.
Having just taken the lead, there was another heart-in-mouth moment for Zubimendi when he played a risky backpass to David Raya when Joao Pedro was right next to him, despite having Gabriel wide open alongside him. The goalkeeper was able to clear but I don’t think he appreciated it either way.
The Gunners did have other moments in transition and Timber found himself in a great area after he was found by Saka but was guilty of overplaying and ended up losing the opportunity to shoot, before Trossard
However, there were two moments of controversy before half time and Arsenal were lucky to avoid conceding a penalty when Rice handled (elbowed?) the ball from a Reece James corner which Raya did really well to save at his near post.
But with the fallout of that incident ongoing into injury time, another James delivery ended up being flicked into the back of the net by Piero Hincapie who rose highest at the near post but ended up getting the crucial touch beyond his goalkeeper. 1-1.
SECOND HALF
Neither manager made a change at half time but it was Chelsea who started strongest, and they were appealing for another penalty when Raya and Joao Pedro came together at the near post (after another James corner) but the incident was cleared after a VAR check.
With 55 minutes on the clock, Arteta blinked first and brought on Gabriel Martinelli for Trossard who was struggling in the game, which would hopefully give James some more pace to worry about further forward.
But Arsenal were becoming increasingly nervous and fell into a pattern that’s been seen far too often this calendar year, making mistakes and lacking urgency in their play which breathes life into the opposition.
Football has a habit of making you look stupid though, and the game turned on its head within five minutes when Arsenal re-took the lead through Timber who headed in another corner – this time from a Declan Rice delivery – after Sanchez came, flapped but was caught in no man’s land. 2-1.
Sanchez and his teammates went screaming to the referee claiming a push, Liam Rosenior was also insisting that there had been some kind of infringement but replays showed that wasn’t the case and the goal eventually stood.
Then a moment of madness from Pedro Neto saw Chelsea reduced to ten men after he swiped recklessly at Martinelli on the counter, picking up his second yellow in quick succession having been booked three minutes earlier for dissent after Arsenal scored their second.
That means seven different players have now been sent off for the visitors this season, highlighting their disciplinary issues which have continued under two different managers.
After that goal, Kai Havertz and Christian Norgaard were then introduced for Gyokeres and Rice as Arteta looked to see the game out with his man advantage, and shortly after there was a good chance for Eze who flashed a left-footed strike towards the far corner but Sanchez got down well to palm away.
But that nervousness came filtering through again and Arsenal didn’t look like they knew how to manage those final stages despite their man advantage, with Chelsea dominating possession and the Gunners continuously giving the ball back to them.
Raya was needed at his best to save a teasing cross-shot from Garnacho that looked destined for the far post, before deep into injury time Delap had the ball in the net (after Raya did brilliantly to save from Joao Pedro) but the Brazilian was offside in the build-up and the late dagger was spared.
Eventually referee Darren England blew his whistle and the three points were secured, but this was far from a vintage performance and Arsenal will acknowledge that despite picking up a very important three points.