Arsenal put on a dominant display against struggling Chelsea as Martin Odegaard’s double led the Gunners to a 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
The win sees Arsenal climb back to the top of the Premier League table, two points ahead of second-placed Manchester City, who still have two games in hand.
After a disappointing run of three successive draws and a heavy 4-1 defeat to Manchester City, Arsenal were in need of a morale-boosting win. And they got just that, thanks to a scintillating first-half performance that saw them score three goals before the break.
Odegaard opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 18th minute with a superb curling finish from just inside the penalty area. The Norway midfielder was left in acres of space as Granit Xhaka’s low cross eluded Chelsea’s lackadaisical defenders.
Odegaard doubled his tally in the 31st minute, taking full advantage of slack marking from Raheem Sterling to fire past Kepa Arrizabalaga from 12 yards.
And just three minutes later, Gabriel Jesus added a third for the Gunners after Cesar Azpilicueta gifted them a golden opportunity in the opening moments.
Chelsea’s only consolation came in the second half when Noni Madueke scored his first league goal since signing from PSV Eindhoven in January.
Mateo Kovacic’s defence-splitting pass found Madueke, who deftly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale to reduce the deficit in the 65th minute.
But it was too little too late for the struggling Blues, who have now lost all six games since Frank Lampard returned as caretaker boss to replace the sacked Graham Potter.
Chelsea are on a nine-game winless run in all competitions and is languishing in 12th place. They face the prospect of failing to finish in the top half of the table for the first time since 1996.
Despite being written off as title race chokers after their recent poor form, Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta remain determined to fight until the end.
The Gunners have shown that they still have what it takes to compete at the top of the table, and their victory over Chelsea will give them confidence heading into a tricky away fixture against Newcastle on Sunday.
