Arsenal saved the Premier League title combat alive by beating up on a Chelsea staff that appears to be in want of life help beneath Frank Lampard. Arsenal returned to the highest of the standings — for a day no less than — by dismantling Chelsea 3-1 on the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to finish a four-game winless run that noticed its management of the title race slip away.
The Gunners channeled their disappointment over final week’s 4-1 loss to rival Manchester City right into a dominant first-half show, going 3-0 up inside 34 minutes as Chelsea slumped to a sixth straight loss in all competitions beneath Lampard. Martin Odegaard scored two practically similar targets and Gabriel Jesus added the third minutes later. The guests provided little in response till Chukwunonso Madueke pulled one again within the sixty fifth however by no means got here near staging a comeback because the hosts noticed out the sport.
Another London derby victory _
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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 2, 2023
“We came out with a different spirit, a different team to last time (against City),” Odegaard advised Sky Sports. “It hurt after the (City) game and we used this anger and the disappointment in this game to bounce back.”
The win places Arsenal two factors above Manchester City atop the standings, however on condition that Pep Guardiola’s staff has two video games in hand — together with at residence in opposition to West Ham on Wednesday — it could not keep there for lengthy.
Arsenal was coming off the loss to City and a run of three straight attracts earlier than that. But Mikel Arteta’s staff could not have requested for a lot simpler opposition because it tried to get again on monitor. “If we want to have any chance to win the league, we had to win today,” Arteta stated.
Granit Xhaka created the 2 opening targets in comparable style, sending a low cross into the field from the left to select Odegaard, who beat goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga together with his left foot each instances. That took any remaining air out of a Chelsea staff that has nothing to play for and is languishing in twelfth place beneath its third supervisor of the season in Lampard, who is ready to go away on the finish of the marketing campaign.
Jesus slotted within the third simply three minutes after Odegaard’s second following a rebound. Lampard gave former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a uncommon begin, however the Gunners’ early domination meant that 4 of the ahead’s first seven touches within the recreation have been kickoffs. He was taken off at halftime.
“First-half performance wasn’t good enough. In every way,” Lampard stated. “We were nice to play against, in every way. … If you play like that, you get what you get.”
Arsenal missed two good probabilities to increase the lead after the break as Thiago Silva cleared a header from fellow middle again Gabriel off the road within the fiftieth and Kepa saved a low shot from Xhaka three minutes later. Madueke gave Chelsea a little bit of hope as he obtained behind Oleksandr Zinchenko to fulfill a ball excessive and beat Aaron Ramsdale from shut vary.
While Chelsea’s depth elevated after that, Ramsdale didn’t have one other save to make till Kai Havertz tried a shot from a troublesome angle in damage time.
