Arsenal widened their Premier League lead to 5 points after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Chelsea, leaving only 10 players.
All 3 goals came from corner kicks in a match with a clear lack of chances. In the 21st minute, William Saliba opened the score for the home team. However, Piero Hincapie scored an own goal at the end of the first half, bringing the match back to balance.
The turning point came in the 66th minute when Jurrien Timber headed to increase the score to 2-1. Chelsea considered the situation to be a foul in the penalty area, but the referee still recognized the goal. Pedro Neto reacted and received a yellow card, before being sent off 3 minutes later for fouling Gabriel Martinelli's counter-attack.
Despite playing with one less player, Chelsea still rose up strongly. Alejandro Garnacho almost equalized in injury time but was excellently saved by David Raya. In the final seconds, Liam Delap put the ball into the net, but the goal was disallowed because Joao Pedro was offside before that.
This victory helped Arsenal re-establish a 5-point gap with Manchester City - who had beaten Leeds United 1-0 the day before. Pressure forced Mikel Arteta's team to respond, and although not too convincing, they still completed the task.
The Emirates Stadium experienced an extremely tense atmosphere when the two teams continuously pressed high. Even after Chelsea lost a player, the game was still suffocating until the last minute. However, Arsenal stood firm, keeping all 3 points. And in the championship race, that is the most important thing.
The controversy surrounding the referee's handling of set pieces - especially the wrestling situation, holding people in the penalty area - has not subsided. However, reality shows that the goals from corner kicks in this match accurately reflect the seasonal trend of The Gunners.
With 16 corner kick goals, Arsenal has equaled the record for scoring the most goals from this situation in a Premier League season, while they still have 9 rounds ahead. This is the ninth time this season they have opened the score 1-0 from a corner kick - equaling Southampton's record in the 1994-1995 season. At the same time, it is also the ninth time Arsenal has scored a decisive goal in a match from a corner kick, the most in a Premier League season.
In the opposite direction, coach Liam Rosenior continues to have a headache with Chelsea's dead-ball defense system. After missing the marking task leading to Zian Flemming's late equalizer in the match against Burnley last week, Chelsea repeated the mistake again. They have conceded 5 goals from corner kicks in the last 6 matches and a total of 9 goals in this way since the beginning of the season.
In the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final last month, The Blues once arranged 3 players to stand high to disrupt Arsenal's corner kick arrangement. However, in this match they abandoned that option and the result was still not positive. While Chelsea continued to struggle to find a solution, Arsenal still persistently pursued the championship race thanks to the dead ball weapon that no team in the Premier League can currently match.
William Saliba has received countless compliments in the last 3 seasons thanks to his stable form in Arsenal's defense. However, the French center-back is going through a period of insecurity.
In the second half of the match against Chelsea, Saliba's mistake of losing the ball to Cole Palmer almost cost his team. In addition, he also had a few situations of hasty and risky clearance - something rare in a player who is famous for being calm and controlling space well.
Luckily for Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes is always by his side - who maintains stability and is ready to cover when needed. At their peak form, this duo is still considered the most comprehensive central defender pair in the Premier League thanks to the combination of ball handling technique and a strong physical foundation.
However, in the context of Arsenal entering a stressful sprint with fierce pursuit from Man City, Saliba needs to soon regain his inherent certainty. Otherwise, the remaining 3 months of the season could become a big challenge for both him and the "Gunners'" championship ambition.
