Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: Goals from defenders William Saliba and Julian Timber help the Gunners beat their London rivals in what could be a key victory in the title race.
Arsenal vs Chelsea winner Julian Timber (Image: Getty Images)
Arsenal strengthened their hopes of winning the Premier League by defeating 10-a-side Chelsea at the Emirates.
The Gunners took the lead through William Saliba, whose header found the back of the net after a careless touch from Mamadou Sarr. Just before the break, Piero Hincapie scored an own goal to tie the score.
Julian Timber then restored Arsenal’s lead from a further corner kick. Things then went from bad to worse for Chelsea as Pedro Neto was sent off for two instant yellow cards as Arsenal celebrated an important win.
Liam Delap thought he had snatched a vital point for Chelsea with a late goal from close range, but the Blues’ celebrations were cut short when Joao Pedro was ruled offside.
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Sanchez Shocker criticized
Chelsea had a relatively good start at the Emirates, but it looked like they were going to lose one player, Robert Sanchez. The Spaniard gave the ball away many times in the first half.
After the third attack, teammate Trevor Chalovar turned around and gave him a piece of the mind, with Gary Neville also claiming that someone should “rip his head off”.
That may be a bit extreme for a former Manchester United defender, but Sanchez has certainly healed Chelsea’s Achilles tendon on numerous occasions.
Set piece… again
Arsenal are undoubtedly masters of scoring from set-pieces, so much so that their rivals are starting to copy their technique. However, Mikel Arteta’s side are still the best and the game against Chelsea underlined that once again.
Declan Rice’s corner kick was deflected back at the back post by Gabriel. He singled out his defensive colleague Saliba and aimed a header towards goal. The ball missed Sarr’s touch and Sanchez scored with his wrong foot.
William Saliba celebrates his goal against Chelsea (Image: Getty Images)
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Chelsea hit back
Arsenal were fortunate to be helped by Chelsea’s body touch when they scored the first goal. Ironically, the Blues subsequently benefited from much the same situation.
Reece James slotted the ball into the box from a Chelsea corner kick. Piero Hincapie reached the ball and guided it past Raya and into the Arsenal net.
Chelsea may have felt justice had been done after Declan Rice’s handball went unpunished just moments earlier.
Poor from Sanchez
Sanchez’s main shortcoming at the Emirates was his ability, or lack thereof, on the ball, which ended up costing Chelsea in the air.
Then, from Rice’s corner kick, Chelsea’s goalkeeper flicked the ball and the ball landed on Julian Timber’s head for a header. The Spaniard yelled for a foul, but they didn’t listen, and rightly so.
Sanchez simply wasn’t strong enough. However, with this goal Arsenal equaled the Premier League record for most corners won in a season with 16.
Sanchez’s appeals fell on deaf ears at Emirates (Image: Getty Images)
Another red point for Chelsea
A bad day at the office just got worse for Bruce. Neto was given a yellow card after complaining about what appeared to be a foul on Sanchez.
Moments later, he was booked again when he hacked down Gabriel Martinelli on the counter-attack.
Unsurprisingly, Neto became the ninth Blues player to be sent off this season. If Rosenior didn’t think his team had discipline problems before, he certainly does now.
Gunners make a statement
This week could make or break Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge. And they got through it brilliantly.
Despite Spurs’ dire form, last week’s encounter was an opportunity the Gunners needed to bounce back from. The same could certainly be said against Chelsea.
However, Arteta’s side approached both games with complete professionalism and managed to pick up as many points as possible. They now have a five-point difference with Manchester City and remain favorites to win the title.
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