Report: Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (inc. goal)

Yesterday at 11:27 AM

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Martinelli, Merino

Subs: Neto, Tierney, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Calafiori, Jorginho, Butler-Oyedeji, Nwaneri

Arsenal strengthened their position in second place after beating Chelsea 1-0 at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, thanks to a first half goal from Mikel Merino.

Mikel Arteta made six changes from the side that drew against PSV on Wednesday, with William Saliba coming back into the side and Gabriel Martinelli starting his first game since early February.

Ethan Nwaneri dropped to the bench while Cole Palmer was a notable absentee for Chelsea, who missed out with a knock.

Arsenal started brightly and had their first sight of goal within three minutes, when x found Leandro Trossard on the edge of the area who controlled and shot wide. Martinelli also tested the palms of Robert Sanchez early on after the goalkeeper initially gave the ball away with a poor piece of distribution.

Just after the 10th minute, Arteta’s men should have been ahead when Jurrien Timber bested Marc Cucurella by the touchline but his cross was intercepted by Wesley Fofana – who denied Martinelli a certain goal – before some penalty box pinball ended up with Declan Rice blazing over.

Replays showed Cucurella could have conceded a penalty after pushing the ball with his arm in the initial phase of play, but VAR cleared the incident after the defender was deemed to be in an “expected position with no clear or deliberate action towards the ball”.

The waves of Arsenal pressure continued and there was another chance for Trossard who had a chance to strike at goal after Sanchez flapped at another cross, but he miskicked his strike on the half volley and it bobbled out for a goal kick.

Eventually the early dominance told and Mikel Merino found himself on the scoresheet after meeting Martin Odegaard’s corner brilliantly at the near post and looping his effort over Sanchez. It might have been an attempted flick on, but either way, the midfielder used his aerial ability to great effect. 1-0.

Chelsea simply couldn’t deal with Arsenal and Wesley Fofana was lucky to avoid seeing red after fouling Declan Rice and stamping on him. VAR checked the incident but it was cleared due to a “lack of force” in his actions.

Martinelli had another glimpse of goal after being played through by Odegaard, but blazed his effort over under pressure from Benoit Badiashile.

It took 37 minutes for Chelsea to register their first attempt on target, and it nearly resulted in a goal after David Raya let Cucurella’s volley squirm through his hands – luckily for him the ball trickled inches wide with nobody tracking on the line.

That chance sparked a small period of dominance for the visitors who were keeping Arsenal penned in their own half, but they couldn’t create any clear opportunities despite a number of crosses coming from wide areas.

Sanchez looked shaky all half in the Blues’ net and he was lucky not to concede again after flapping at another Martinelli cross, but Trossard hesitated after picking up the loose ball and was eventually dispossessed when he should have shot.

The hosts were dominant for most of the first half and would have scored more with some cooler heads in front of goal, despite Chelsea coming back into the contest.

The game slowed down slightly after the break but Fofana somehow avoided a booking (again) after pulling back Trossard in transition, but referee Chris Kavanagh decided the Frenchman should have more opportunities to foul Arsenal players without punishment.

Incredibly, Fofana was finally booked moments later for throwing a second ball onto the pitch as Myles Lewis-Skelly tried to take a throw in.

Heading towards the hour mark, Merino was inches away from doubling his tally after his well-struck volley was palmed away (off the line) by Sanchez after Martinelli found him at the back post, before Odegaard shot straight at the Spaniard from the edge of the area when he was spotted by Trossard.

Another excellent driving run from Lewis-Skelly earned Arsenal a free kick – 20 yards out, just left of centre – and this time it was Rice who stepped up to take, but after minutes of suspense and organisation, he struck his effort into the wall.

With 15 minutes to play, Martinelli was replaced by Ethan Nwaneri after looking tired and taking a heavy kick from Moises Caicedo, with the teenager providing some fresh legs in wide areas.

Kieran Tierney was introduced for Odegaard late on, as the Gunners dropped deeper to defend their one goal lead with Chelsea pushing to equalise.

After four added minutes, Kavanagh eventually blew the full time whistle and after three games without a win, three points were always the most important thing for Arsenal despite some frustrating inefficiency in the final third.

They maintained their four point gap ahead of Nottingham Forest ahead of the international break, where hopefully all their players will avoid injury and return fresh ahead of Fulham.

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