Martin Odegaard’s first-half double and a Gabriel Jesus strike had Arsenal done and dusted by half-time as they halted the four-match winless run, which will likely cost them the title.
Arsenal are back to the Premier League summit after defeating Chelsea in Tuesday night’s London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
With Manchester City not in action until Wednesday, the Gunners have regained top place and will be closely following proceedings when the champions take on Westham.
Martin Odegaard’s first-half double and a Gabriel Jesus strike had Arsenal done and dusted by half-time as they halted the four-match winless run, which will likely cost them the title.
City, who have two games in hand on Arsenal, will expect to regain the top spot at home to West Ham - but the current table leaders will be happy with arresting the mini-crisis that engulfed the camp at the wrong end of the title race.
Arteta, who has been heavily criticised for his predictability and failure to rotate his squad all season, handed former Chelsea man Jorginho a first Premier League start in two months in place of Thomas Partey.
Leandro Trossard also came in for Gabriel Martinelli, while Polish centre-half Jakub Kiwior was handed a full league debut in place of Rob Holding.
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17:03 - 02.05.2023
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The start of the game painted a clear picture of where the two teams have been at this season.
It was a clash between one thoroughly-demoralised team and one shell-shocked side eager to revive their title ambitions.
Chelsea sat deep and attracted Arsenal pressure that eventually yielded two goals by Odegaard to restore some smiles on the fans’ faces after that humbling 4-1 demolition at City last week.
Arsenal should have been out of sight by the time Chelsea scored midway through the second half, Mateo Kovavic’s lofted ball scuffed home by Noni Madueke.
Arsenal might have squandered comfortable leads against Liverpool and West Ham, but they weren’t going to do it again, especially not against a shambolic side like Chelsea, who have lost six in a row.
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