Premier League

ARSENAL 3 (Lacazette 34, Xhaka 44, Saka 56)
CHELSEA 1 (Abraham 85)

A YOUTHFUL looking Arsenal side thumped Chelsea 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium tonight (Saturday) to end a seven-game run in the Premier League without a win, and ease the pressure on manager Mikel Arteta.

Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 34 minutes after Reece James brought down Kieran Tierney in the box, before Granit Xhaka fired the Gunners into a two-goal half-time lead with a scintillating free-kick.

Bukayo Saka capped a man-of-the-match performance when he added a third early in the second half with a long-range lob over Edouard Mendy.

There were suggestions it might have been a cross, but the versatile youngster was adamant the strike went exactly as he planned. “I saw him off his line so I thought I could chip him,” said Saka after the final whistle.

Tammy Abraham scored from close range to make it a nervy final five minutes for the hosts – nerves that would have been seriously tested had Bernd Leno not saved Jorginho’s stoppage-time penalty.

“It’s a really big win for us,” admitted a relieved Arteta, who had spoken of a relegation fight if Arsenal hadn’t started winning games over the festive period. “We were really disappointed with recent results – not so much the performances.

“Our players were suffering, and our fans were suffering. It doesn’t get any better than winning a London derby against Chelsea on Boxing Day.

“Hopefully this is a turning point. We know how good Chelsea are but big moments in the game we were the better team.”

Looking as if the pressure was finally lifting after just one win, Arteta added: “The injuries we’ve had, Covid, playing with 10-men… you start to think what do we need to win a match?

“It’s nice to give something back to our fans because I can imagine they have been really disappointed. Now let’s carry on. We still have big things to improve on.”

It was a well-deserved victory for Arsenal, who only climbed one place in the table to 14th after bagging three big points.

What will give Gooners hope, however, is the performance from a changed line-up that would have shocked them before kick off.

Gabriel was suddenly missing after “close contact” with someone with Covid, and will now self-isolate and miss Tuesday’s trip to Brighton.

David Luiz and Willian also missed the reunion with their former club as they were feeling unwell, but Arsenal were keen to stress that both recently tested negative for Covid.

That meant the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, fit-again Gabriel Martinelli and Saka all started against Chelsea, and they didn’t disappoint as they added an energy that has all-too-often been missing in Arteta’s side this season.

Arsenal: Leno, Bellerin, Holding, Mari, Tierney, Elneny, Xhaka, Smith Rowe (Willock, 65), Saka, Martinelli (Pepe, 71), Lacazette (Mustafi, 90+2)
Substitutes not used: Runarsson, Maitland-Niles, Soares, Ceballos, Nketiah, Aubameyang

Chelsea: Mendy, James, Silva, Zouma, Chilwell, Kovacic (Jorginho, 45), Kante (Havertz, 74), Mount, Pulisic, Abraham, Werner (Hudson-Odoi, 45)
Substitutes not used: Arrizabalaga, Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Emerson, Gilmour, Giroud