Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory against a hapless Chelsea, aided by two goals from Martin Odegaard, but the championship remains Manchester City’s to lose despite having played two less games.
Arsenal had a 3-0 halftime lead after skipper Odegaard was granted acres of space – twice – by Chelsea’s shaky defence to score in the 18th and 31st minutes, and Gabriel Jesus scored from close range 11 minutes later.
Arsenal’s first victory in five games moved them to 78 points, two more than second-placed City, the incumbent champions, who play West Ham United on Wednesday with the opportunity to recapture top position.
Mikel Arteta made three changes after losing 4-1 to Manchester City last week, including starting attacker Leandro Trossard in place of Gabriel Martinelli and giving Jakub Kiwior his first league start in midfield.
His team dominated its slumping London rivals from the start, looking to rebound from last week’s possibly title-deciding defeat.
Granit Xhaka, who assisted both Odegaard goals, almost opened the scoring in the opening minutes but was denied by Kepa Arrizabalaga, who went on to make saves in the second half to avert an Arsenal onslaught.
“Everyone was so hurt after the game (against City),” Odegaard remarked, adding to his 14 league goals this season.
“We used our rage and disappointment to claw our way back into this game.” You can lose games, but the manner we lost, where we didn’t play our game and weren’t ourselves, was the most hurtful thing, and we wanted to show a different side, which we certainly did,” the Norwegian told Sky Sports.
Chelsea have now lost six games in a row in all competitions since interim coach Frank Lampard took over for Graham Potter last month, a sad record for a team that was crowned European champions just two years ago.
They did, however, manage to score just their second goal in eight games in the 65th minute, when Noni Madueke slid the ball past Aaron Ramsdale for his first goal since joining from PSV Eindhoven in January.
Chelsea’s US owners, who have spent over £500 million ($623 million) on players since taking over the club over a year ago, are poised to choose former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino as their next permanent manager for next season.
