Arsenal made a statement on Tuesday, April 23, as the club pounded London rivals Chelsea, beating them 5-0.
As much as the scoreline reflects the dominance of the home side, it doesn’t explain Chelsea’s monumental collapse as Mauricio Pochettino’s men conceded four goals in just 18 minutes in the second half.
Chelsea’s starting lineup included academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist and was notably missing talisman Cole Palmer.
The west London club started Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson.
Arsenal had its preferred starting eleven out there with William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, and Ben White.
Arsenal opened the scoring in the 4th minute with a Leandro Trossard goal. It wasn’t until the 7 minutes into the second half that the Gunners doubled their lead through a goal from Ben White.
Things were only about to get worse for the Blues though, as former Chelsea forward Kai Havertz slotted home his first of the game and Arsenal’s third. He scored again in the 65th minute to make it 4-0 to Mikel Arteta’s men.
Ben White scored another goal in the 70th minute for 5-0, deepening the Blues’ blushes, making it Arsenal’s biggest ever win over Chelsea.
Chelsea was grateful for the eventual final whistle, as it meant Dorde Petrovic would no longer need to pick any more balls from his net.
This win pushes Arsenal four points clear, though the North London club has played two more games than Man City, and one more than Liverpool.
Liverpool plays later today, but is likely to remain in second place even with a victory, due to Arsenal’s large goal difference.
