ARSENAL have cruised to a 5-0 victory against London rivals Chelsea.
The Gunners took the lead with four minutes on the clock after Leandro Trossard’s near-post strike.
Arsenal doubled their advantage through Ben White’s close-range finish early in the second half before Kai Havertz made it 3-0 against his former employers.
Just after the hour mark, the German doubled his tally against his ex-side with a superb strike for 4-0.
Ben White also claimed a stunning double on the night to cap off a 5-0 win in the London Derby and extend the Gunners lead at the top of the Premier League table.
- Match result: Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
- Live stream: discovery+
- Arsenal team: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Havertz, Trossard
- Chelsea team: Petrovic, Guilchrist, Disasi, Badiashille, Cucurella, Caicedo, Enzo Fernandes, Gallagher, Madueke, Jackson, Mudryk
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Match report
Arsenal wiped away the April blues with a centurion display to keep their title charge at full throttle.
Leandro Trossard netted the Gunners’ 100th goal of the season, followed by a Ben White and Kai Havertz double in a rampant second-half blitz to get them back on track after a few bumps in the road this month.
The league loss here to Aston Villa 10 days ago and a Champions League quarter-final exit to Bayern Munich have been forgotten. All roads now lead to an epic three-way title race.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino was left feeling blue yet again – perhaps regretting suggesting in the build-up that his Chelsea side are NOT Cole Palmer FC.
Without their clinical 20-goal Premier League superstar Palmer to produce moments of magic, the West Londoners were torn apart by an Arsenal outfit smelling blood at the Prem summit.
Four points clear of Manchester City in third. Three points clear of Liverpool in second. A goal difference of +55 that is 11 better than City and 12 better than Liverpool.
Pals to foes
Zinchenko seemingly teasing Sterling towards the end of tonight’s game.
The pair were former teammates at Manchester City.
‘Perfect night’
Leandro Trossard got the scoring started early in this one.
And he says his side are on track for a big end to the season but can only focus on their own job.
He told TNT Sports: “I think the early goal helped us and after that we played so well. We had a lot of chances and we turned them into goals. It’s a great night.
“They say clean sheets help you win games. We know if we score the goal we can win 1-0. But, obviously, we want to go for more. Today is the perfect night. I think everyone works so well and hard. I am really happy to be here.
“We can only do our own job and that’s winning games. We are on track now and we will try and win the rest of the games and we will see what happens.”
‘Not nice’
Mauricio Pochettino says his team weren’t clinical enough and admitted watching the performance was ‘not nice’.
He told TNT Sports: “I think we started the game not so well. We concede the goal and then it was difficult for us to recover from this goal. I think in the first half we compete after 10, 15 minutes.
“We could not approach the game like we started in the first half and we didn’t compete the way we needed to compete and then when they scored the third it was easy for Arsenal to control the game.
“I think you need to be clinical. Like against Manchester City three days ago, we were not clinical and then today the same thing happened. D
“Difficult performance because it is not nice to see your team play like this when you are mean to have full energy. After three days when you play a fantastic game against Manchester City, today we are disappointed with the performance.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 23: Chelsea Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino looks on during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Chelsea FC at Emirates Stadium on April 23, 2024 in London, England.(Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) Enjoy tonight
Mikel Arteta says his side will enjoy the win tonight but then it’s straight back to focus on a crunch North London derby at the weekend.
He added: “It is a big London derby and we know what it means for the fans. We will enjoy it and rest and get ready for the next one.
“What I would like is that the players can manage themselves in the dressing room. You have to leave them some space. They know what they are playing for. That’s what holds the team together. My role is to demand them and also in the right moments make them believe they can do it.
“We have a lot of games coming up. Let’s enjoy tonight and let’s go back to work.”
Arteta speaks
Mikel Arteta admitted his side weren’t disciplined enough in their first half showing but a half time talk sorted that out.
He was also full of praise for his captain Martin Odegaard.
He told TNT Sports, per the BBC: “Very happy with the win, with the amount of chances and goals we scored. And with the clean sheet as well it shows the consistency.
“We weren’t disciplined enough with some stuff we did in the first half and we needed to be more disciplined and we did that in the second half.
“We agreed Odegaard was a player with huge talent and he could grow with us. We were convinced he could add something special to the team.
“That’s always a question: How are you going to handle a different role? He has done it so naturally and he is loved by everyone. With the love that he has, it is enough for everyone to want to follow him.”
Where they go next
While we wait to hear what the managers say, here’s what’s to come for both sides in the league.
Two tricky away days on the way next….
Now he’s honest….
Ben White has come clean on his second goal.
He told Match Of The Day: “The first goal I was just in the right place at the right time. The second one was a bad touch and it went in.”
Feeling all White
Ben White says he’ll let everyone else decide whether or not he meant his second goal.
He told TNT Sports: “We know we can score goals and today it was a quick game and it was important to put the ball away when we had the chance.”
On his second goal and whether he meant it, he added: “I don’t know. I’ll let everyone else decide!
“It’s not just the defence keeping the clean sheets, the wingers track back as well.”
Biggest win
A damning stat against Chelsea tonight.
That comes after Arsenal recorded the most shots in the first half against Chelsea in the league since 2003/04.
New standings
A look at the Premier League table now after that.
Arsenal stay top and now pull clear of Liverpool and Manchester United….for now.
They’re both in action in midweek though Arsenal’s goal difference looking a touch healthier than those two at the moment.
Chelsea stay ninth.
Blue what?
Nicolas Jackson avoided punishment for a dangerous challenge on Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The forward collided with Tomiyasu just nine minutes into the match, catching his lower leg studs-up.
Arsenal full-back Tomiyasu immediately went to ground after rolling his ankle as a result of the challenge.
The Gunners were subsequently awarded a free-kick, but Jackson escaped a yellow card.
Many fans believed he should have been sent off following the challenge.
One person took to X to write: “How is this not a red card for Nicolas Jackson? Not even a yellow!!! Shocking from the officials again.”
Numbers at full time
Chelsea with more of the ball and more passes.
But doing absolutely nothing with it.
Arsenal with 27 shots on goal in the end. Nearly one every three minutes!
FT: Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
It was actually a decent contest in the first half too.
But that second half showing from Chelsea was absolutely embarrassing.
Arsenal ran all over the top of them. Quicker, more powerful, stronger, pacier and just so much better.
Chelsea’s midfield two costing a quarter of a billion pound? Give me a break.
Arsenal brilliant, particularly after the break and will be gutted not to have scored more!
FULL TIME!
Chelsea finally put out their misery.
Five-star Arsenal extend their lead at the top!
ARSENAL 5-0 CHELSEA
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
90+6. It should’ve been six.
Martinelli is sent clean through, with no defenders in sight whatsoever.
He opens his body looking for the far corner but gets his finish all wrong and strikes his straight at Petrovic.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
90+5. Sterling gets in behind on the left and has Jackson to pick out in the middle.
His cross is straight at the defender who clears.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
90+2. Sterling turns well on halfway to skip away from White.
But his pass through for Jackson is easily cut out.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
90+1. Sterling with an absolutely pathetic pass out from the back, right onto the head of Vieira.
He nods it into the path of Martinelli on the edge of the area who takes a snap shot at goal which he drags wide of the left post.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
89. Chelsea well short of leaders. Even now, only Thiago Silva on the pitch now you’d consider one. And it’s absolutely showing right now.
SEVEN MINUTES ADDED ON.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
87. Almost six again for Arsenal!
Odegaard and Vieira somehow create an opening against the back five of Chelsea. The Norwegian with the overlap creates confusion and Vieira’s smash at goal hits the sidenetting.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
85. Decent build-up play from Chelsea. But every pass being cheered by Arsenal fans!
It’s worked out to the right but the hopeful cross into the box from Gallagher is straight at Raya who finally has something to do.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
What a goal that would have been!
82. Exceptional reverse pass from Gabriel Jesus to find Rice inside the box on the left.
Rice opens his body up and curls an effort which cracks off the far post and back into play. Odegaard’s shot at goal is blocked before the offside flag goes up.
That showed the qualities Gabriel Jesus does have, for all that he’s not a good goal scorer. That pass was magic.
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
Another Arsenal change for the final 10 minutes.
- OFF: Saka
- ON: Vieira
Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea
78, Arsenal keeping the ball for fun as Gabriel is fine to come back on.
Chelsea now in a back five, looking to contain Arsenal. Damage limitation.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
