London: Gabriel Jesus’ close-range finish from Bukayo Saka’s inswinging corner in the second half was enough to secure a well-deserved and vital win for Arsenal in the Premier League at the Stamford Bridge here on Sunday.
In a London derby, Arsenal were the dominant side throughout the game and could have won by a bigger margin in the end. The 1-0 result sees Arsenal move back to the top of the league with 34 points from 13 games.
Manager Mikel Arteta remains unbeaten in all of Arsenal’s Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge since he took the reins in December 2019. The Gunners entered this contest on the back of three wins, one draw, and one loss in their last five games across competitions. They defeated FC Zurich 1-0 in their last game, securing qualification to the Europa League round of 16.
It was a start full of intensity from the visitors, Ben White had tried two shots on goal — the first blazed over and the second one dragged just wide.
Gabriel Martinelli was next to try his luck, shooting over from the edge of the area. Gabriel Jesus had a shot charged down when he burst into the box and weaved past two defenders but Thiago Silva slid in to block.
Arsenal’s best move of the half resulted in an opportunity for Jesus. He couldn’t stretch quite enough to get his head on the end of a Martinelli cross though. He had beaten the offside trap to find the space but missed the target.
The second half started in a fairly scrappy manner, with the wet pitch may be contributing to a disjointed passage of play.
Jesus won the corner, winning the ball from Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek then shooting at Edouard Mendy at the near post. Bukayo Saka swung in the corner, which evaded everyone before Gabriel slid in to score virtually on the goalline.
Jesus, who might have now gone nine games without a goal, put in another excellent display here. He set up a wonderful chance for Odegaard after a mazy run in the middle of the pitch. The skipper checked onto his left foot but shot over when Martinelli was perhaps better placed.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, back in the side after missing nine games with a calf injury, was replaced by Kieran Tierney for the closing stages.
—IANS