Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea (Odegaard 18′, 31, Jesus 34′ | Madueke 65′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — The prospect of facing rivals Chelsea straight after that numbing, dream-wrecking defeat to Manchester City that is likely to have ended their title chances had initially appeared an unwelcome one. Although in hindsight playing against this Chelsea side is possibly the best way to rekindle any lost confidence or waning momentum.
Three goals ahead before half-time, a four-game slide without victory halted, back two points ahead at the top of the Premier League table, applying at least some pressure to Manchester City with their two games in hand, keeping that agonising hope that it’s not quite over alight.
Regardless of whether they do it or not the Emirates Stadium feels alive again, for the first time in a long while. Like a place where people can come to celebrate and enjoy themselves and have a little fun, as opposed to one where 50-odd thousand wallow in collective misery on a near-weekly basis. They laughed and joked and spurred each other on, reveling in the occasion, making the most of the opportunity, relishing being on top.
So rarely in recent history have they had this sort of upper hand on Chelsea, certainly not the bragging rights that they so ruthlessly utilised to mock their opponents.
“You’re going down!” they chanted in the ninth minute. (To which Chelsea’s travelling contingent responded, “We’ve won it all!” and “You’ve won f___ all!”).
WHAT A STRIKE!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 2, 2023
Martin Ødegaard gives Arsenal an early lead with this brilliant finish pic.twitter.com/uflmJJxMmO
They were clearly encouraged not only by this incredible season but by the way their players controlled the occasion. They kept the ball almost exclusively in Chelsea’s half during the 18 minutes before they took the lead, racking up a shot every three-and-a-bit minutes before Martin Odegaard gracefully side-footed the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga.
And where were Chelsea’s players? No one in blue was anywhere near the Norwegian as he steadied himself to strike Granit Xhaka’s low ball from the left first-time. What felt like almost the entire stadium chanted “You’re going down!” again at the tiny pocket of blue in one corner.
It was hard to tell if Arsenal attacked with exceptional, deadly precision or if Chelsea defended truly terribly. On balance it was probably a combination of the two.
The second goal was almost a clone of the first, just after the half-hour. Another Xhaka low ball in from the left, Odegaard again creeping into the space — the chasm of it — between Chelsea’s players inside their own penalty area and hitting another first-time shot, this time into the right of goal.
The third, only three minutes later, seemed to come for a fairly routine high cross from the right side by Ben White. Gabriel Jesus tried to poke it back to Oleksandr Zinchenko and when the ball came back to Jesus he lashed it in from an angle. Three Chelsea players — Wesley Fofana, Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta — were on their backsides by the time the goal went in.
“Are you Tottenham in disguise?” rang round the arena. Even Noni Madueke’s consolation goal — his first for Chelsea — midway through the second half could do nothing to dampen the mood.
Frank Lampard sat stone-faced in the dugout and on several occasions the stadium rose as one and chanted “Super Frankie Lampard!” at him, mercilessly mimicking the way Chelsea used to sing so effusively about their hero in his playing days.
Those days seem such a distant past. Even the last time the two sides met here, in August 2021, feels like a lifetime away from today.
Chelsea had been crowned Champions League winners only three months before. Their former owner, Roman Abramovich, who so lavishly funded their success, was still six months away from being sanctioned by the UK government for supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The Arsenal side from that day tells a story of how things have changed. Their defensive unit of Bernd Leno, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari started in a game they lost 2-0. This time, it was Aaron Ramsdale, White, Jakub Kiwior, Gabriel Magalhães and Zinchenko. The former five could all, possibly, be gone by the end of this summer.
That old Arsenal team also included Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a symptom of the troubled Arsenal, whose career has nose-dived since he left. He made a rare start for Chelsea last night but was hooked at half-time — much to the delight of Arsenal fans — after only a handful of touches of the ball, mostly from kick-offs.
With this young, evolving squad and the impressive Mikel Arteta in charge Arsenal now look like they can be challengers at the top for at least the next few years. Chelsea are currently nine points away from the bottom three and you suspect if there were slightly more than four or five games still to play they would be in real danger of dropping into it. Their near future is a lot less promising.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/9CNIqjJ
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