Photo: Alexandre Lacazette (right) celebrates Arsenal’s second goal against Chelsea with Granit Xhaka who scored a peach of a free kick as the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners over their London rivals on Saturday. (Getty Images)
Arsenal ended their seven-match winless run in the Premier League with a 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Alexandre Lacazette put them ahead from the penalty spot, before Granit Xhaka scored a stunning free-kick. Bukayo Saka then added a third with a sweet right footed strike that may have been an attempted cross.
Chelsea scored a late consolation through Tammy Abraham, while Jorginho had a stoppage time penalty saved by Bernd Leno. The results eased pressure off Mikel Arteta in the Arsenal dugout, while Chelsea lost their third away game on the bounce.
The Gunners made eight changes to their side that was beaten by Manchester City during the week. Leno came back between the posts, while Tierney, Holding and Mari all returned to the back three. Saka and Bellerin started in the wing-back positions while Xhaka was restored to the line-up after serving his three-match suspension. Smith Rowe joined Martinelli and Lacazette in the front line.
Chelsea on the other hand made two changes to their side that beat West Ham last time out. Kovacic returned to the middle of the park in place of Jorginho, while James came into the team in the back four to replace Azpillicueta. Both Azpillicueta and Jorginho dropped to the bench.
Arsenal started the game like a house on fire, knowing they were desperately in need of points. As early as the first minute Martinelli almost put Arsenal ahead after Saka sent Bellerin down the right flank and he floated a dangerous cross into the box. Thiago Silva failed to clear his lines and Martinelli reacted at the back post, only to steer his effort wide of the right post.
In the 9th minute Chelsea almost unlocked the Arsenal defence as Christian Pulisic surged into the final third. He offloaded to Timo Werner, who backheeled towards Abraham. however, the ball just did not fell kindly for the forward before Pablo Mari cleared his lines.
Four minutes later Mason Mount curled his free kick over the wall towards the target, however, his effort clipped the upright before travelling wide. Arsenal and Chelsea continued to trade punches like those of Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. in their recent match up.
Arsenal continued to knock at Chelsea’s door, and they were duly rewarded in the 33rd minute. Tierney bamboozled Reece James and was brought down by him in the box leaving the referee no doubt but to point to the spot. Lacazette stepped up and hammered his effort low and hard with his right foot away from Mendy into the bottom-right corner for a 1-0 advantage. This marked the first penalty scored by Arsenal against Chelsea in the Premier League since Gilberto Silver May 2007.
Arsenal continued to pile on the pressure on Chelsea’s backline in search of goal number two. Chelsea lacked fluidity and struggled to find a rhythm after they went behind.
Things got worst for the Blues a minute before half time when Kante brought down Saka with a clumsy challenge and handed Arsenal a free kick in a dangerous position. Xhaka’s ferocious strike nestled in the top left-hand corner for a 2-0 half time lead.
Frank Lampard responded quickly at the resumption by hooking Werner and replacing him with Hudson-Odoi. The German has now failed to score in his last 10 games in all competitions, his longest drought since a run of 12 matches between March and September 2016 across spells at Stuttgart and RB Leipzig.
Jorginho also replaced Mateo Kovacic incredibly early in the second half. Things got worst for the visitors as Saka notched a crucial third goal. Smith-Rowe worked the ball well to the winger, who had acres of space and time on the right side of the box. His cross-cum-shot drifted over Mendy and into the back of the net.
It was all Arsenal in the second half as Lampard and his men could not find an answer to the questions asked by arsenal. In the 64th Tierney surged down the flank after Martinelli robbed a lethargic James of possession. The full-back cut the ball back for the Brazilian to fire at goal, but Mendy got down well to deny the Gunners a fourth goal.
On the 80th minute mark, Chelsea had not recorded a shot on target as the latest chance fell Abraham who blasted his effort over the cross bar and into several rows of empty seats behind.
Finally in the 85th minute Abraham chested Hudson-Odoi’s cross past Leno to give Chelsea a glimmer of hope. The goal was reviewed by VAR for offside because the linesman had raised his flag initially, but Bellerin played him onside.
Minutes before full time Mari marred what would have been an excellent performance in defense with a reckless challenge that brought down Mount in the box for a penalty kick. Jorginho went for his trademark stutter-step, but Leno read it well to keep the score at 3-1. Six minutes of time added on was added by the fourth official but that was not enough to let Chelsea back into the game as Arsenal held on to their first win since beating Manchester United.
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