By NewsBits
Arsenal was the better side, certainly in the second half as they beat Chelsea by 1 – 0 at Stamford Bridge, the home ground of Chelsea on Sunday afternoon. Against the prediction of most football pundits, Arsenal did not just dominate the game, the bossed Chelsea players in every department during the feisty North London derby.
Chelsea looked disorganised as they did not really have a chance to play their usual free-flowing style to enable them to get in the game.
Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who had a point to prove going by how he departed unceremoniously from Arsenal was kept totally out of the game before he was substituted in the second half of the game as Arsenal, a team that is very high on confidence this season mounted a lot of pressure on Chelsea, which eventually paid off through a corner kick.
It was a huge win for Arsenal, which lunched them back on top of the Premier League table, where they displaced Manchester City who occupied the table temporarily on Saturday. Recall that 10-man Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1 thanks to Erling Haaland’s winning penalty in the fifth minute of injury time on Saturday.
Arsenal deservedly held their stance at Chelsea’s home ground, not playing as if it was an away game at all. Arsenal was the better side. The derby was settled by Gabriel’s point-blank finish from Bukayo Saka’s corner in the 63rd minute. The win takes Arsenal right back to the top of the table with just two points separating Arsenal and Manchester City with both teams having played 13 games each.
Arsenal had created the best chances when it was goalless, but Gabriel Martinelli curled a shot over the crossbar and Gabriel Jesus failed to hit the target with a diving header when unmarked. Chelsea, with ex-Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failing to make an impact against his former side, struggled to create clear-cut chances and are now without a win in four Premier League matches.
The overall statistics at the end of the game showed Arsenal dominance of Chelsea at Stanford Bridge. Aside from dominating possession in the first 45 minutes, Arsenal had 56 per cent ball possession, while Chelsea had 44 per cent.
Overall, Chelsea had 5 shots compared to Arsenal’s 14. But shots on target showed Arsenal had two while Chelsea had 1; Arsenal had six corner kicks, while Chelsea had just four. The only department where Chelsea did better was the fouls, they committed… they had 20 fouls as against Arsenal’s 13, which also accounted for why more Chelsea players received yellow cards.
