Arsenal are comfortably at the top of the Premier League. By winning calmly against Chelsea (5-0), the Gunners put pressure on their pursuers. The Gunners, who have by far the best goal difference, have three points but one game ahead of Liverpool and four points for two games more than Manchester City.
This difference was again taken care of this Tuesday, against the reworked Blues. Deprived of Malo Gusto, Mauricio Pochettino also did without Thiago Silva and Trevor Chalobah, who were nevertheless convincing against City (0-1) in the cup this weekend. Place Alfie Gilchrist (20 years old) in the right lane, to whom Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard wished a good first start by making him dizzy on the first goal (1-0, 4th).
Djordie Petrovic didn’t help him, committing a small hand error on Trossard’s shot but then recovered well. He kept his team, deprived of Cole Palmer (ill) and tossed around in the game, alive for a long time with several reflex saves. It was only after thirty minutes that Chelsea finally came out but Nicolas Jackson, who could have been sent off for a bad sole (9th), missed the only opportunity of the match for the visitors (40th).
The case could have been folded by Kai Havertz (see below), it was by Ben White. The right side took advantage of a poorly repelled ball to crucify Petrovic at point blank range (2-0, 52nd). And once the momentum was found, Arsenal rolled on. Havertz finally scored on an opening from Martin Odegaard (3-0, 57th), then sealed the victory in the middle of the passive defenders (4-0, 65th). And to thank the “olé” who were coming down from the bays, Ben White found the opposite corner by missing his cross (5-0, 71st). The conclusion of a large victory, which allows Arsenal to temporarily take off at the top of the Premier League and above all to improve its goal difference (56), far ahead of Liverpool (43) and Manchester City (44).
5
By winning by five goals, Arsenal signed their biggest victory in the London derby in 209 matches. In 2014, Chelsea won 6-0 at home.
The player: Havertz punishes his former club
For a long time, the Emirates must have wondered if he was reluctant to attack his former club. Kai Havertz first made a series of bad choices, preferring to pass when he had to hit (10th) and vice versa (26th). Then he missed a face-to-face encounter within his reach (51st). But it was when the occasion was at its most difficult that the 2021 Champions League final scorer struck. The German took the depth well and played Gilchrist before lobbing Petrovic (57th). Then he took advantage of the opponent’s passivity to score with a precise shot, on the inside post. His tenth and eleventh goals of the season in the Championship, reward for what looks like his best season since his arrival in England in 2020.