Football
How Five-star Arsenal thrashed ‘Palmerless’ Chelsea to go three points clear
Arsenal on Tuesday night thrashed their London neighbours Chelsea who were without star player Cole Palmer 5-0 to go three points clear on the log.
A brace each from Ben White and former Chelsea star man Kai Havertz added to Leandro Trossard’s early opener was enough to silence the Stamford Bridge club.
The victory has helped Arsenal tighten their grip on top spot in the Premier League. And the defeat has dented Chelsea’s European aspirations.
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Havertz made a £65million switch from Stamford Bridge last summer. The German registered two of four second-half goals on a remarkable evening at a jubilant Emirates Stadium.
Defender Ben White also claimed a double for Mikel Arteta’s title-chasing side. The four goals had extended Leandro Trossard’s early effort. The Gunners effort had since seen the Blues’ recent resurgence floundered in embarrassing fashion in the absence of key man Cole Palmer.
Arsenal are now three points ahead of second-placed Liverpool having played one game more. Manchester City sit four points behind with two outstanding games in hand.
Chelsea had squandered a series of chances during the encounter. Nicolas Jackson was particularly culpable, as they suffered a first defeat in nine top-flight games. The defeat has seen Chelsea missed the chance of climbing to seventh.
The Blues had made the short trip across the capital on the back of a painful FA Cup semi-final defeat to City.
Chelsea academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist was handed a first Premier League start as part of four changes. Arsenal on the other hand had recalled Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey.
Arsenal were quick to rise from a damaging 2-0 loss to Aston Villa in their last home game. The defeat to Villa was quickly followed by their pain of exiting the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Ex-Chelsea academy player Declan Rice was afforded time and space to advance deep into opposition territory. The effort had helped him slipped in for Trossard’s early opener. Trossard had escaped Gilchrist and fire a low left-footed shot from a tight angle which was allowed to squirm home by Blues goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.
Jackson escaped a potential eighth-minute red card to save Chelsea from further awful outing. This was following the forward’s catching Tomiyasu’s ankle with his studs.
Arsenal dominated the game as they ended the encounter with a comfortable 5-0 vitory – their historic highest defeat over Chelsea.
The Gunners will hope to replicate such victory when they engage Tottenham in another London derby on Sunday.