Arsenal kept the Premier League title fight alive by beating up on a Chelsea team that seems to be in need of life support under Frank Lampard.
Arsenal returned to the top of the standings 바카라” for a day at least 바카라” by dismantling Chelsea 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday to end a four-game winless run that saw its control of the title race slip away.
The Gunners channeled their disappointment over last week바카라™s 4-1 loss to rival Manchester City into a dominant first-half display, going 3-0 up inside 34 minutes as Chelsea slumped to a sixth straight loss in all competitions under Lampard.
Martin Odegaard scored two nearly identical goals and Gabriel Jesus added the third minutes later. The visitors offered little in response until Chukwunonso Madueke pulled one back in the 65th but never came close to staging a comeback as the hosts saw out the game.
바카라śWe came out with a different spirit, a different team to last time (against City),바카라ť Odegaard told Sky Sports. 바카라śIt hurt after the (City) game and we used this anger and the disappointment in this game to bounce back.바카라ť
The win puts Arsenal two points above Manchester City atop the standings, but given that Pep Guardiola바카라™s team has two games in hand 바카라” including at home against West Ham on Wednesday 바카라” it may not stay there for long.
Arsenal was coming off the loss to City and a run of three straight draws before that. But Mikel Arteta바카라™s team couldn바카라™t have asked for much easier opposition as it tried to get back on track.
바카라śIf we want to have any chance to win the league, we had to win today,바카라ť Arteta said.
Granit Xhaka created the two opening goals in similar fashion, sending a low cross into the box from the left to pick out Odegaard, who beat goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with his left foot both times.
That took any remaining air out of a Chelsea team that has nothing to play for and is languishing in 12th place under its third manager of the season in Lampard, who is set to leave at the end of the campaign.
Jesus slotted in the third just three minutes after Odegaard바카라™s second following a rebound.
Lampard gave former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a rare start, but the Gunners바카라™ early domination meant that four of the forward바카라™s first seven touches in the game were kickoffs. He was taken off at halftime.
바카라śFirst-half performance wasn바카라™t good enough. In every way,바카라ť Lampard said. 바카라śWe were nice to play against, in every way. ... If you play like that, you get what you get.바카라ť
Arsenal missed two good chances to extend the lead after the break as Thiago Silva cleared a header from fellow center back Gabriel off the line in the 50th and Kepa saved a low shot from Xhaka three minutes later.
Madueke gave Chelsea a bit of hope as he got behind Oleksandr Zinchenko to meet a ball over the top and beat Aaron Ramsdale from close range.
While Chelsea바카라™s intensity increased after that, Ramsdale didn바카라™t have another save to make until Kai Havertz tried a shot from a difficult angle in injury time.
