Arsenal ride corners to draw closer to Premier League title; Chelsea red cards continue
LONDON — Arsenal moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday as Jurriën Timber‘s 66th-minute header gave the Gunners a scrappy 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea. All three goals came from corner kicks in a game short on open play chances. William Saliba‘s 21st-minute effort gave the home side a…
LONDON — Arsenal moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday as Jurriën Timber‘s 66th-minute header gave the Gunners a scrappy 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea.
All three goals came from corner kicks in a game short on open play chances. William Saliba‘s 21st-minute effort gave the home side a lead canceled out by Piero Hincapié‘s own goal in first-half stoppage time.
Timber nodded Arsenal back in front with a goal Chelsea felt should have been disallowed for grappling in the box. Pedro Neto protested that decision and was booked by referee Darren England. Three minutes later, Neto was sent off for fouling substitute Gabriel Martinelli as he tried to stop an Arsenal counterattack.
Chelsea brought in four players off the bench in an effort to chase the game, including Liam Delap and Alejandro Garnacho, and the latter almost equalized with a dangerous cross in stoppage time that Gunners goalkeeper David Raya clawed behind. Delap then had the ball in the net in the final seconds, but João Pedro was clearly offside in the buildup.
Arsenal hung on to extend their lead at the top, sitting five points ahead of Manchester City. Meanwhile, Liam Rosenior suffered his first league defeat as Chelsea manager since replacing Enzo Maresca in January. — James Olley
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Arsenal respond to Man City — just barely
Man City’s 1-0 win at Leeds United on Saturday moved Pep Guardiola’s side to within two points of Arsenal ahead of Sunday’s kickoff. The pressure was firmly on Arsenal to respond.
Although this wasn’t an entirely convincing answer, the Gunners did enough to secure a precious victory and stay a step ahead in the title race.
Emirates Stadium was a nervous place once again with the stakes so high. Both teams tried repeatedly to play out from the back, and both went to press their opponents when the other did so. It led to a number of edgy moments, and not even Neto’s 70th-minute dismissal eased the tension as Chelsea defied their disadvantage with a late rally that had Arsenal defending frantically and Raya flinging himself everywhere.
But Arsenal got the job done, the points are on the board, and that is all that really matters. — Olley
Chelsea’s red card trend costs them again
Neto’s second-half sending-off marked the seventh time this season that Chelsea have received a red card in the Premier League — and the indiscipline is proving extremely costly.
Neto’s foul on Gabriel Martinelli was worthy of a second yellow, but it was a silly challenge by the Chelsea player, considering he had received his first yellow for dissent less than three minutes earlier. With Chelsea 2-1 down at that point, the Blues needed all 11 players on the pitch to have any hope of fighting back into the game, but Neto blew their chances.
So often this season, Chelsea have lost after losing a player to a red card. They lost at Manchester United and Fulham and at home to Brighton after losing a player to a red, and prior to Neto’s dismissal at the Emirates, Chelsea had played 330 minutes this season in the league with only 10 players on the pitch.
That is almost four full games playing down a man, so it is no surprise that they won only one of those game — against Nottingham Forest — when reduced to 10 players.
And the added blow of losing Neto for the final 20 minutes against Arsenal is that the Portugal winger will be suspended for Wednesday’s big game away to Aston Villa.
Only 2009-10 Sunderland (eight) and 1994-95 Leicester City (eight) have had more different players with red cards in a Premier League season than Chelsea this season (seven). — Mark Ogden
Arsenal’s dominance on corner kicks decides it
A wider debate continues about the refereeing of set pieces, given the amount of grappling and holding going on, but the scoring from corners here essentially went to form. Arsenal have now equaled the Premier League record of goals from corners in a single season at 16, and they still have nine more games left to play.
The Gunners have gone 1-0 up from a corner on nine occasions in the league this season, tied for the most by a team in a single campaign alongside Southampton in 1994-95. This was also the ninth time in the Premier League this season that Arsenal have scored a match-winning goal from a corner, more than any other team in a single season in league history.
By contrast, Rosenior rued a missed “marking assignment” as Chelsea allowed Zian Flemming to score a stoppage-time equalizer for Burnley last weekend, and once again his team was at fault in defending set pieces. They have now conceded five goals from corners in their past six league games and nine on the season overall.
During last month’s Carabao Cup semifinal second leg between these teams, Chelsea left three players upfield in an effort to unsettle Arsenal’s corner routines. They abandoned that plan here, but neither worked effectively. That search goes on while Arsenal’s title challenge continues to be underpinned by a dead-ball prowess no other team can currently match. — Olley
Chelsea’s Champions League hopes now in jeopardy
England’s strong lead at the top of the UEFA country coefficient table means that the Premier League will almost certainly have five qualification spots for the UEFA Champions League this season, but with this defeat, Chelsea are facing a battle to finish fifth.
Rosenior’s side are only three points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, but Chelsea face a tough trip to fourth-place Aston Villa on Wednesday, 24 hours after Liverpool face bottom club Wolves at Molineux.
So if results don’t go Chelsea’s way this week, they could be facing an increasing gap between themselves and the top five. Villa’s form has nosedived in recent weeks, so that will give Chelsea hope, but it also places huge importance on Wednesday’s trip to Villa Park.
If Chelsea can win that game, they will drag Villa closer to them and boost their own hopes at the same time, so it has the feel of a decider for the fifth spot, with third-place Manchester United and Liverpool both hitting winning form in recent weeks. So the pressure is on Chelsea this week. — Ogden
Despite his goal, Saliba’s form a concern
William Saliba has received plenty of praise for his performances in Arsenal‘s defense over the past three season, but the France international has hit a difficult patch.
His second-half mistake when conceding possession to Cole Palmer almost led to a Chelsea goal, and Saliba also made a number of rushed and risky clearances when he would usually be calm and measured on the ball.
Fortunately for Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães is helping him through his tough time by being rock-solid alongside him at center half.
On their day, they are the best central defensive partnership in the Premier League because they are a classic blend of flair and physicality.
But with Arsenal facing a nerve-shredding title run-in with Manchester City, Saliba needs to recover his best form quickly to avoid the next three months becoming an ordeal. — Ogden
