LONDON (AFP) - Arsenal blew the race for a top-four Premier League finish wide open as first-half goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny saw the Gunners beat Chelsea 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday (Jan 19).
Chelsea remain in pole position for a return to Champions League football next season in fourth, but are now just three points ahead of Arsenal and a surging Manchester United, who beat Brighton earlier on Saturday to stretch caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's winning streak to seven games in all competitions.
Maurizio Sarri's men risk being caught after a fourth defeat in 11 league matches that underlined the need for a striker, as the club close in on signing Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus.
Sarri again opted to start without a recognised centre-forward, with a largely anonymous Eden Hazard preferred in middle of a front three against an Arsenal defence that had kept just one Premier League clean sheet since September.
By contrast Arsenal boss Unai Emery's selection was vindicated, with Mesut Ozil on the bench for the whole match and a switch to a 4-4-2 that allowed Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to form a potent partnership up front.
Aubameyang should have opened the scoring after just five minutes when perfectly picked out by Lacazette's low cross, but he dragged his shot wide.
Kepa Arrizabalaga then produced a brilliant save to deny Koscielny from point-blank range, but it counted for little as from the resulting 14th-minute corner Arsenal took a deserved lead.
Â
Lacazette did well to stay on his feet as he skipped past Marcos Alonso and Pedro Rodriguez before smashing the ball past Kepa at his near post.
Aubameyang should have doubled Arsenal's lead moments later but fired too close to Kepa when clean through.
Chelsea's start was horribly reminiscent of the 3-1 defeat at Tottenham in November that began their dip in form after a fine start to Sarri's reign at Stamford Bridge.
However, Arsenal's defence remained vulnerable when put under pressure and Pedro could have levelled when his lob over Bernd Leno shaved the outside of the post.
Aubameyang came close again, this time in spectacular fashion with an overhead kick that flew inches wide with Kepa beaten.
Chelsea were repeatedly caught out by Arsenal's well-worked set-pieces and paid for it again, albeit in fortunate fashion for the Gunners, six minutes before the break.
Sead Kolasinac headed down Lucas Torreira's free-kick into the path of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and his cross picked out the unmarked Koscielny.
The Arsenal captain mistimed his header, but the ball bounced in off his shoulder for his first goal since he ruptured his Achilles in April.
Chelsea could have got a foothold in the game before half-time as David Luiz's header came back off the post.
But in keeping with so many of their performances of late, Chelsea created little thereafter despite dominating possession.
Olivier Giroud was given a warm welcome back to the Emirates when he entered as a substitute, but even with the French international as a focal point, the visitors were toothless.
Sarri will hope Higuain, who scored 38 goals when the pair first worked together at Napoli in the 2015/16 season, is the answer.
Title-chasing Reds require perfect finish, admits Van Dijk. Virgil van Dijk says Liverpool must win their three remaining Premier League games to have a chance of claiming a first domestic
Pochettino loses his cool as Spurs slump, Huddersfield closer to relegation while Huddersfield were pushed closer to relegation by their 2-0 loss at Newcastle on Saturday. bottom of the
Pochettino loses his cool as Spurs slump, Huddersfield closer
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk insists he will not face a personal duel against Lionel Messi in his side's Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. I cannot stop Messi alone, admits
LONDON (REUTERS) - Investigators searching for a lost plane carrying Premier League soccer player Emiliano Sala said on Wednesday (Jan 30) an underwater search would begin after they found two
Football Extras: Plane cushions found in search for missing
Barcelona Looking for a Solid Display at Anfield The 3-0 victory home gives Barcelona a comfortable platform to progress to the Final of Champions league, their ultimate goal of the season. A t the start of the Season, Lionel Messi made it clear about what remains his and the club's first priority.
Champions League final: Solid defence secures Liverpool win
Man City end Newport's Cup dream to reach quarter-finals. Soccer Football - FA Cup Fifth Round - Newport County AFC v Manchester City - Rodney Parade, Newport, Britain - February 16, 2019
Man City end Newport's Cup dream to reach quarter-finals
The Times says that English football's experiment with VAR "descended into chaos" during the Spurs-Rochdale clash. if you can't explain a new law or procedure in a sentence, or quicker
Mic up Premier League referees - f*ck the swearing - Football365
Warnock hails Cardiff's heart as Bluebirds win again for Sala Neil Warnock praised his Cardiff players for paying tribute to the late Emiliano Sala with their vital 2-1 victory at Southampton.
Warnock hails Cardiff's heart as Bluebirds win again for Sala
Football: England thrash Montenegro after early scare
Manchester City have recorded a dramatic 3-2 victory over Schalke 04 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday night. City took an early lead through Sergio Aguero, but two penalties from Nabil Bentaleb gave Schalke a half-time advantage and City were left further
Result: Manchester City stun Schalke 04 with late comeback in
Son Heung-min is no longer an invisible star | Tell My Sport
tellmysport.com/soccer/son-heung-min-is-no-longer-an-invisible-star/
Son Heung-min is no longer an invisible star 06/03/2019 Soccer LONDON • A half-hour or so after Tottenham Hotspur had edged out Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final, the club's new stadium was all but empty.
Son Heung-min is no longer an invisible star, Football News
Bayern forward Wagner makes China move after 'very attractive offer' Bayern Munich's back-up striker Sandro Wagner on Wednesday joined Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League (CSL) for a reported transfer fee of five million euros ($5.7m) and a hefty pay packet.
Football: Ikhsan Fandi scores first competitive goal for
Report Ad
Check Out Career Tops on eBay. Fill Your Cart With Color Today!
Pep Guardiola believes playing Manchester United at Old Trafford is no longer scary for Manchester City. City struggled for results at the home of their local rivals before Sheikh Mansour's
Old Trafford holds no fears for Guardiola - sports.yahoo.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment