Sports
Arsenal thump Chelsea to go three points clear at top of table
Arsenal laid waste to Chelsea in an absolute thrashing to establish a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Leandro Trossard gave Arsenal the lead inside four minutes when he collected Declan Rice’s pass and blasted through Djordje Petrovic at the near post. Chelsea came close from a corner when Benoit Badashile flicked narrowly past Axel Disasi, while Nicolas Jackson’s cross hit the post after a deflection from Gabriel Magalhaes, but they couldn’t find the equaliser, with Enzo Fernandez side-footing wide.
The Blues were reliant on Petrovic at the other end to keep them in it, the Serbian goalkeeper saving from Kai Havertz a few seconds before producing a stunning reaction stop from Trossard’s deflected effort. Petrovic was there again to save from the influential Rice after the break, but he could not stop Ben White from finding the net from a loose ball.
It was then that things really got out of hand, with Havertz racing onto a fabulous pass from Martin Odegaard to make it 3-0 and adding another eight minutes later with a precise finish into the bottom corner. It got even better for Arsenal when White’s attempted cushioned cross flew into the top corner for 5-0, allowing Mikel Arteta to rest his match-winners as the “oles” rang out from the stands. Here are the talking points from the Emirates Stadium.
Some might call it a sliding doors moment. Rewind to the January transfer window of 2023 and Arsenal were trying their best to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk. In the end, they were gazumped by Chelsea, who splashed out the princely sum of £88.5million to sign the Ukraine international. Arsenal reacted by landing Trossard for £27m from Brighton.
With the benefit of hindsight that looks like a bargain. After rifling one through Petrovic inside the fourth minute, Trossard now has five goals in his last nine games for Arsenal – including two in the Champions League. The Belgian has proven himself the perfect utility player and now commands a place in the starting XI ahead of Gabriel
Martinelli.
Arsenal run riot
Thomas Partey was making just his second Premier League start in eight months for Arsenal. And while he wasn’t the player earning the plaudits in the stands, he was the one allowing the carnage to take place in front of him. Partey’s presence allowed Rice a freer role and he clearly relished it, nicking the ball and charging forward at every opportunity.
It was his pass from which Trossard opened the scoring and, alongside the brilliant Martin Odegaard, he was the creative fulcrum, dominating the £200m pairing of Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Arsenal knew they were buying class when they paid a club-record £105m for Rice and he has gone from strength to strength as the season has worn on.
Odegaard took the award for pass of the night for his ball for Havertz’s first, as well as the chipped ball for White’s bizarre second. And Saka claimed an assist for the German’s second. But it was the sight of Rice running free that really caught the eye.
To Havertz, the glory
Kai Havertz enjoyed himself in the second half ( Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal fans are fond of reminding people that many observers considered the £65m they paid for Kai Havertz to be a waste. Arteta knew how he wanted to use him – as a No8 or as a No9 – and he is being proven right in some style game after game.
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