Maitland- Ni Niles, Iwobi and Mustafi have had to give up their positions in the Arsenal starting lineup to Ramsey, Bellerin and Torreira. On Chelsea's side, Coach Sarri kept both the starting lineup and the bench from the 2-1 victory over Newcastle.
Arsenal took the initiative early in the match. They pressed Kepa's goal with passes from both sides into the penalty area at both high and low altitudes.
Lacazette made a standard cross but Aubameyang missed the opportunity to open the scoring in the 4th minute, which was a pity. However, the above attack plan also helped the home team take the lead.
Lacazette received the ball after a pass from Bellerin's right wing, overcoming the pursuit of Pedro and Marcos Alonso before launching an accurate shot from a narrow angle.
After the first half of the first half took place at a relatively fast pace, the game moved more slowly. That was also the time Chelsea started to have more possession. David Luiz's long passes from midfield opened up opportunities for the blue- shirt strikers to finish.
However, Chelsea could not send the ball to the target at one point in the first half of this London derby and the most notable football was Marcos Alonso's header that only hit the post.
Not only that, the away team also had to concede another goal in the 39th minute. Chelsea's defense chased Koscielny with a lack of determination, allowing the French midfielder to score with his shoulder and Sokratis to assist in this goal.
After the break, Chelsea attacked more strongly in the hope of finding a goal to reduce the gap, but the Blues' attacking options still showed ineffectiveness.
Eden Hazard plays the role of the fake number 9 in the Chelsea squad but often moves very wide to launch attacks. The Belgian has left little of an impression. He and his teammates were impatient in the decisive handling.
On the other side of the front line, a 2-goal advantage helped Arsenal play more comfortably in the second half. In fact, the quality of Unai Emery's counter-attacks has also declined.
Chelsea have continuously renewed their attack with the presence of Barkley, Giroud and Hudson-Odoi. However, it was not until the 82nd minute that they had their first and only shot on target in this match. Marcos Alonso's shot was blocked by goalkeeper Leno.
That is a sad number even though Coach Sarri's team has 64% possession of the ball. Therefore, they had to leave the Emirates Stadium with a 0-2 defeat.
Chelsea still maintain 4th place in the Premier League rankings after round 23 with 47 points. However, the gap between them and the two teams right behind Arsenal and Man United are now only 3 points.
