“It’s not over,” Mikel Arteta had said on Monday. It feels as if it is, Manchester City just too powerful, as evidenced by their 4-1 dismissal of Arsenal last Wednesday. But Arsenal cannot allow their Premier League title push to fizzle out. They owe it to themselves after the excellent season they have produced. And then who knows? Just maybe …
Arteta’s men kept up their side of the bargain, moving back to the top of the table, two points clear of City, having played two matches more, although to have failed to beat this Chelsea team would have been an abdication. Frank Lampard’s visitors were almost implausibly bad in the first half. Then again, it has all been too believable for their supporters of late. Arsenal were 3-0 up after 34 minutes, the game over.
The outstanding Martin Ødegaard scored the first two, Gabriel Jesus added the third and the damage could have been heavier. The blot for Arsenal was the sight of Gabriel Magalhaes limping off towards the end but the broader picture showed a first victory in five; a reaction to the hammering at City.
It was an ordeal for Lampard, the “Super Frank” chants coming from the Arsenal fans rather than the Chelsea enclosure. His switch from a back three to 4-3-3 did not work and nor did his selection of Pierre‑Emerick Aubameyang up front. The one-time Arsenal favourite, starting for the first time since the reverse fixture last November, touched the ball nine times before he was withdrawn at half-time. Four of them were kick-offs.
Lampard has come to deal only in scraping for consolations and there was at least a consolation goal – scored by Noni Madueke, his first for Chelsea – plus what passed for a late push. It was only the second goal of Lampard’s six-game interim tenure – each of which have ended in defeats, equalling the club’s worst run in 30 years.
More broadly, Chelsea have gone nine matches without a win, sinking below the mid-table cut-off, while Lampard himself has endured 10 losses in a row as a manager, going back to the dog days of his Everton tenure which ended in January. He is without a win in 16.
A penny for his thoughts as he crossed the pitch to salute the travelling fans when it was over; there were not too many of them left. Lampard knew he faced a tough job but the reality has been hideous. None of his players even did the basics for the best part of the game and it is a sobering thought that Chelsea must still face the Manchester clubs and Newcastle. It has become crystal clear why the permanent manager-in-waiting, Mauricio Pochettino, would prefer to arrive in pre-season.
The hope from a Chelsea point of view had been that they could not fall any further but that was before the embarrassment of the first half, the tone set by a swing-and-a-miss from N’Golo Kanté inside his own area and also a weak back header from César Azpilicueta; Granit Xhaka pounced and Kepa Arrizabalaga had to make a decent save at close quarters.
Ødegaard had begun as if he meant business, working tirelessly, demanding the ball, building the play in that driving style. Bukayo Saka rose to extend Arrizabalaga with a towering header (yes, really) on 15 minutes, Chelsea’s marking slack, and then Ødegaard popped up on the edge of the box to reward Arsenal for their positivity.
Jesus went left to Xhaka and he screwed a low pass back. It was startling to see the lack of pressure on the ball from Chelsea. There was Ødegaard to unload a first-time shot which flew in off Arrizabalaga’s fingertips and the underside of the crossbar.
Ødegaard’s second was similar. Again, Arsenal built up the left and again Xhaka cut back for the run of Ødegaard. Thiago Silva was rooted, Raheem Sterling did not track and Arrizabalaga was exposed. Ødegaard’s finish from closer in was true. Silva and Ben Chilwell argued about who had been supposed to do what.
Five minutes earlier, Chilwell had almost fashioned an equaliser out of nothing, Kanté’s pass in behind Saka springing him clear but Aaron Ramsdale made a fine save. Now Arsenal turned the screw, the third goal summing up the Chelsea defensive shambles.
Jesus was allowed to take down a deep Ben White cross beyond the far post and jab inside to Xhaka, who was crowded out. But nobody in blue could react when the ball broke for Jesus, who slammed home. There were four Chelsea players on the ground close to Jesus. Two of them – Arrizabalaga and Silva – beat it with their fists.
For the first 15 minutes of the second half, it was more of the same. Gabriel saw a scruffy effort from a corner spirited away from in front of the line by Silva while Xhaka worked Arrizabalaga after beating Wesley Fofana. Saka whistled another shot wide.
At least Chelsea found a measure of stability. Mateo Kovacic created the goal for Madueke with a nice pass in behind Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mudryk Mkyhailo, on as a substitute, had a few surges. As Lampard acknowledged, it was far too little.
