April 21, (THEWILL) – With a thrilling 4-2 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, Arsenal re-entered the scramble for a top four place in the English Premier League.
At Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, there were banks of vacant seats in what was Chelsea’s first home game with only season ticket holders in attendance since government penalties prevented the club from selling match tickets to the general public.
In a tense first half, chaos reigned, with four goals flying in amid a slew of defensive gaffes on both sides.
Within five minutes, Chelsea came close to taking the lead, but Marcos Alonso’s close-range attempt was deflected into the side netting. Mason Mount’s subsequent corner forced Gabriel Magalhaes to clear from the crossbar of the Gunners.
After Gabriel and Romelu Lukaku had gone close at either end, Andreas Christensen’s badly mis-hit back pass put Eddie Nketiah clear through, and the Arsenal striker scored with a low finish.
The hosts, on the other hand, were level four minutes later. Nketiah was the villain this time, handing the ball over to Ruben Loftus-Cheek, whose interception was rolled to Timo Werner. The German twisted it off of his feet, and Aaron Ramsdale’s near post was pressed by his mis-hit low shot.
Mount came close to giving Chelsea the lead moments later, but his rasping shot deflected away from goal. After a jinking move, Bukayo Saka cut the ball back for Nketiah, but the frontman conspired to strike his effort into his own leg, and it bounced wide.
The half remained end-to-end, with a fantastic counter assault resulting in a second Arsenal strike. Granit Xhaka started the move with a cool nutmeg, and the ball was eventually worked out wide to Saka. The Englishman found Martin Odegaard and Odegaard laid it off to Emile Smith Rowe, who converted it first time on the run.
Chelsea needed only a few minutes to find a leveller. Under pressure from Mount and Werner, Ben White gave the ball away out wide, and the former’s exquisite cross was superbly finished by wing-back Cesar Azpilicueta, and the Blues survived a VAR review for a probable foul in the build-up.
Nketiah came close again right from the start, hitting a left-footed attempt just wide of the post from the edge of the box. In the final minute of the half, Smith Rowe came within a whisker of scoring his second, creating space in the box with some exquisite agility but shooting wide.
In the second half, the game calmed down a bit, but there was still time for a defensive blunder to result in another goal before the hour mark.
Azpilicueta fumbled the ball away in midfield, and despite a superb challenge on Nketiah by substitute Thiago Silva, Malang Sarr was unable to deal with the loose ball, allowing the Arsenal man to prod in his second.
Arsenal then took a more defensive posture, encouraging Chelsea to try and break them down. With 25 minutes remaining, Reece James’ cross-shot was pushed away by Ramsdale, and White came up with a fantastic stop to deny Alonso’s follow-up shot.
Saka scored the game-winning goal in the final minute from the penalty spot. The winger was brought down off the ball by Azpilicueta, who was adjudged to have committed a foul by referee John Moss, and the England player stepped up to shoot the penalty past Edouard Mendy.
After that win, Arsenal remain in fifth place, but they have drawn level with Tottenham on points. They are presently only a goal difference behind their arch-rivals. Next up for them is a home match against Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s home losing streak continues, and Tuchel will be hoping for a turnaround against West Ham this weekend.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
