CHELSEA’s casuals have thrown the top four race wide open and set up some much-needed drama for the final day of the season.
Thomas Tuchel’s men have barely put a foot wrong since their change of manager four months ago.
But now they have opened the door for Leicester, West Ham and Liverpool to pip them at the post for Champions League qualification.
That would leave them needing to beat Manchester City in this month’s Champions League final to secure their place back at European football’s top table.
And if they should fail to achieve that ambition, they will have only themselves to blame after handing three points on a plate to an Arsenal team who were there for the taking.
Jorginho’s disastrous 15th minute error was a defensive gaffe straight out of the Gunners playbook.
And Mikel Arteta’s men were not going to look this west London gift horse in the mouth as they completed an unlikely double over the team they also beat in last season’s FA Cup final.
Arteta had positively bristled on the eve of this game when he was asked to compare the progress Arsenal had made under his guidance with that of Chelsea under Tuchel.
“The two scenarios are very, very different,” he snapped.
And it is certainly true that Tuchel inherited a better squad from Frank Lampard than the bunch of underachievers which Arteta was left by Unai Emery.
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But the fact is that Arteta has had two transfer windows to raise the bar with no discernible improvement so far.
And even this shock result probably still won’t be enough to secure the top seven finish Arsenal require for European qualification next season.
At least Arteta can take heart from this backs to the wall victory against the side he had described as: “Probably the best team in the League over the past few months.
It was hardly a surprise that Tuchel, with one eye on Saturday’s FA Cup final, rested seven of the team which had beaten Manchester City at the weekend.
What was less anticipated was Arteta making five changes to his team following Sunday’s home win against West Brom.
And even more unexpected was three right-backs on the bench but none on the pitch, which meant yet another new role at wing-back for the overworked Bukayo Saka.
Not that it stopped the teenager from bombing forward at every opportunity as Arsenal looked to take early control.
But it also left the visitors a man light at the back and they were fortunate not to fall behind in the 11th minute when Gabriel’s short pass to Pablo Mari was picked off by Kai Havertz.
But with only Bernd Leno to beat, the £62million German international lifted his shot over the bar.
And Chelsea were left to count the cost of that miss when they fell behind to a comedy goal four minutes later.
Jorginho had all the time in the world to get off a pass back to Kepa but didn’t look to see that the keeper had come wide of his goal to receive possession.
And though Kepa was just able to throw himself headlong to scoop the ball off the line, he could only push it out for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to tee up Emile Smith Rowe for a tap-in.
It was probably a good job for Chelsea that Arsenal converted because otherwise Kepa could have been in trouble for denying a goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling a backpass.
Yet it was still hard to believe that a team as defensively solid as Chelsea could concede in such a shambolic way.
And what was supposed to be a gentle work-out had suddenly been turned into a full-blown battle to keep their top four ambitions on course.
They almost levelled in the 29th minute when Havertz played in Mason Mount for a fierce shot which Leno did well to parry.
And they were denied again shortly before the break when Mohamed Elneny dived in to prevent Mount reaching the loose ball after Leno had blocked Ben Chilwell’s low cross.
Arsenal were struggling to get beyond the halfway line but with a lead to cling onto were proving to be a real source of frustration for Tuchel.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, Olivier Giroud and Hakim Ziyech were all introduced from the bench in the search for greater attacking thrust.
And they thought they had finally secured parity which their overwhelming possession merited when Havertz nodded on Mount’s 60th minute corner and Christian Pulisic turned the ball in at the back post.
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But video replays confirmed that the American international was offside when he chested home and the goal was rightly ruled out.
There was another huge escape for Arsenal in the 90th minute when Kurt Zouma’s looping header was tipped against the bar by Leno and Giroud volleyed the rebound back against the frame of the gaal.
The one crumb of comfort for Tuchel is the knowledge that Chelsea’s fate is still in their own hands.
If they beat Leicester at the Bridge next Tuesday they will be very much in the driving seat for their final Premier League fixture away to Aston Villa.
Yet they have still made their task far more difficult than it should have been and means they can no longer take it easy in their build-up to the Champions League final.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
