Arsenal edged past Chelsea with a 1-0 victory in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. The visitors got off to a shaky start with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez putting his team to work early on due to poor distribution out of defence. To add to Chelsea's shaky start, Arsenal had a valid penalty claim when Marc Cucurella seemed to handle the ball inside his own box but the VAR deemed it not enough to warrant a spot-kick.
Chelsea's unorganised start at the back continued and the hosts took the lead after 20 minutes through one of their signature corners. The ball was whipped in brilliantly by Martin Odegaard and the Norweigan's cross was met by makeshift striker, Mikel Merino, who looped his header over Sanchez, who couldn't be questioned for not saving it.
With around 10 minutes left to go in the first half, David Raya narrowly avoided embarrassment when he spilt Marc Cucurella's volley from inside the box which was straight at him. The left-back's strike was hit with power but should've been dealt with quite easily by the goalkeeper, but it wasn't, and instead, the ball went straight through him and just past the post for a corner.
The first half came to a close with the scoreline 1-0 to the home side and despite surrendering most of the possession, Arsenal looked the more threatening of the two sides going forward.
The first big opportunity of the second half came for Arsenal and it was once again Merino at the heart of it. The Spaniard connected sweetly with his strike from close range but was kept out by a phenomenal save from the Chelsea goalkeeper, Sanchez.
The match ended without much goalmouth action and it was Arsenal who came away with all three points.
Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea - Match Statistics
Arsenal
41
12
4
5
2
3
Match Highlights
Full highlights to follow shortly...
Arsenal Player Ratings
Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard in action for Arsenal
GK: David Raya - 7/10
Raya didn't have much to do throughout the match, but towards the end of the second half, he almost had his head in his hands when he spilt Cucurella's strike, which he should've dealt with easily. To make up for his near error, the Spaniard was good in possession of the ball and played some really nice passes out from the back and into midfield.
RB: Jurrien Timber - 8/10
Whether he was coming up against Nkunku, Neto or Sancho, Timber defended really well and won the majority of his defensive duels.
CB: William Saliba - 8/10
A valuable calm head in defence. Saliba was good in possession of the ball but he also defended very smartly, rarely being out of position or looking like he was struggling.
CB: Gabriel - 7.5/10
The big Brazilian was pretty much unchallenged defensively and he also made some really good progressive runs out from defence with the ball at his feet.
LB: Myles Lewis-Skelly - 7/10
Defended really well throughout the match whilst also maintaining his attacking threat up and down the left flank all afternoon.
CM: Thomas Partey - 7/10
Battled well in midfield for the most part but looked quite slow and lethargic in possession of the ball.
CM: Declan Rice - 7.5/10
Another really solid box-to-box performance. Rice worked really hard in the defensive and pressing department but also got into some really good attacking positions and made himself a nuisance.
CM: Martin Odegaard - 8.5/10
Provided a good assist for Merino's opening goal and was a constant presence in the midfield from both a creative and pressing point of view.
RW: Gabriel Martinelli - 7.5/10
The Brazilian looked to run at Cucurella with his pace and trickery every time he picked up the ball. The two battled well but Martinelli came out the victor.
ST: Mikel Merino - 8/10
Merino may not have had many touches of the ball, but he took his goal very well and had a solid overall performance.
LW: Leandro Trossard - 6/10
Trossard looked energetic going forward, but on the ball, he was sloppy for the most part and didn't really threaten the Chelsea defence.
SUB: Ethan Nwaneri - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Kieran Tierney - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Chelsea players walking out for their Premier League match against Arsenal
GK: Robert Sanchez - 7/10
Looked shaky pretty much every time he had the ball at his feet which caused unrest in the Chelsea defence, but he did make a very good save in the second half to deny Merino.
RB: Wesley Fofana - 6.5/10
Fofana was mostly defensively solid but was arguably fortunate to stay on the pitch after committing several bad tackles, most notably on Rice and Trossard in the first half.
CB: Levi Colwill - 7/10
Not that great in possession of the ball but defended consistently for the most part.
CB: Benoit Badiashile - 6/10
Just like Sanchez, Badiashile made an already shaky backline even more uncomfortable. The Frenchman looked erratic when defending and also had some off moments on the ball.
LB: Marc Cucurella - 7/10
Had a good battle going on with Martinelli and managed to recover well despite a shaky start. Cucurella got into some good attacking positions and caused the Arsenal defence and goalkeeper some problems.
CM: Reece James - 6/10
James' positioning was all over the place at times and he looked slightly off the pace.
CM: Moises Caicedo - 7.5/10
Battled really well and worked hard in the middle of the park. Caicedo was solid in possession and drove through the midfield well at times.
CM: Enzo Fernandez - 6/10
Despite typically having lots of involvement on the pitch, Fernandez struggled to get into the match playing in a more advanced role and didn't look great going forward.
RW: Jadon Sancho - 6/10
Despite seeing a lot of the ball in wide areas, Sancho didn't really do anything with the ball and was quite easily shut down.
ST: Pedro Neto - 4.5/10
Isolated up front on his own for a large majority of the match. Neto mainly had to go into wide positions to get his foot on the ball but even then, he didn't have much
LW: Christopher Nkunku - 6/10
Nkunku had possession of the ball quite often, but he didn't make anything happen while he had it. The Frenchman worked hard but didn't have a positive impact on the match.
SUB: Tyrique George - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Romeo Lavia - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Malo Gusto - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
SUB: Tosin Adarabioyo - N/A
Didn't do much after coming on.
Man of the Match
Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard in action for Arsenal-1
Mikel Merino's goal was the difference for Arsenal and it was created by Arsenal's midfield maestro, Martin Odegaard. The Norweigan provided a beautiful and well-placed cross for the Spaniard's header but his good performance did not just end with his match-winning assist.
As well as providing the assist for the winning goal, Odegaard's performance all over the pitch was top-notch. He had great energy in the middle of the park both when he was driving forward with the ball and pressing, which proved to be a really valuable asset for his side, who did come under some pressure during the match despite their attackers flattering to deceive.