Arsenal wins at Stamford Bridge after 10 years, keeps Europa dream alive

A mistake from usually steady Jorginho was enough for Arsenal to win the London derby in a match where Chelsea made seven substitutions, missed one on one chance with the keeper and hit the woodwork twice in a row in the 90th minute: Chelsea - Arsenal 0-1.

Thomas Tuchel’s men found it hard to break Arsenal’s defense and when they did, they didn’t use their chances so now, they need to win all of their three remaining games if they want to secure the Champions League spot, regardless of the result in the Final game with Manchester City. On the other side, with this unexpected win, unstable Arsenal have a small chance to secure their place in Europe, after all, through the newly formed Conference League. They also managed to record a double win over Chelsea this season.

Thomas Tuchel decided to copy Guardola, who made nine substitutions last week against Chelsea, so he made seven for this match: Edouard Mendy, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, N'Golo Kante, Timo Werner, and Hakim Ziyech all come out of the side. Kieran Tierney, Pablo Mari, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were the players who Arteta decided to bring in for this one.  

The Gunners decided on the „drop deep, defend with five at the back“ tactics, and just let Chelsea take the ball. And the Blues embraced the chance and almost scored, but Havertz... the German missed a great chance in the 10th minute, when he broke clean through on Leno's goal, but his shot went over the bar.

And then an uncharacteristic mistake from steady Jorginho, who passed the ball back to the Chelsea keeper, not looking where Kepa was. The Spaniard was not on his spot and made a big effort to prevent an own goal, only to see the ball bounce to Aubameyang, who assisted Smith Rowe for 1-0.

Chelsea’s best player was, as always, Mason Mount, who basically did what he wanted from the left wing, and nearly equalized in the 28th minute, but Leno was on his place.

Second half was total dominance from Chelsea, who find it hard to break Arsenal’s deep defensive line, but the Blues still had their chances. Pulišić scored in the 62nd minute, but it was ruled offside by VAR and then in the 90th minute, Chelsea hit the woodwork twice in a row. Zouma's header was tipped onto the bar by Leno before Giroud, from a tight angle, volleyed the follow-up against a post.

After this defeat, Chelsea will have a chance to win the first trophy in 2021 and under Tuchel, as they play Leicester in the FA Cup final.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Tuesday

Manchester United - Leicester City 1-2 (1-1)

/Greenwood 15 - Thomas 10, Soyuncu 66/

Wednesday

Chelsea - Arsenal 0-1(0-1)

/Smith-Rowe 16/

Thursday

20.00: Aston Villa - Everton

Friday

22:00 Newcastle United - Manchester City

Saturday

14:30 Burnley - Leeds United

17:00 Southampton - Fulham

22:00 Brighton & Hove Albion - West Ham United

Sunday

14:00 Crystal Palace - Aston Villa

16:05 Tottenham - Wolverhampton

18:30 West Bromwich Albion - Liverpool

21:00 Everton - Sheffield United