Arsenal were able to achieve one thing for the first time under Mikel Arteta as they put Chelsea to the sword on Tuesday evening.
Arsenal romped to a 5-0 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were able to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table with this win. Ben White has now sent a message to Manchester City and Liverpool, who face the challenge of catching up with Arsenal.
The North London club were in scintillating form against their capital city rivals. Martin Odegaard impressed Arsenal fans with his creativity, whilst Thomas Partey and Declan Rice were able to dominate in the middle of the park.
Arsenal set new Premier League standard under Mikel Arteta
Arsenal were finally able to pair up Rice and Partey in midfield against Chelsea, and this combination proved to be hugely impressive. This duo gave Mikel Arteta’s side the platform they needed to dominate possession and territory.
From the first whistle, the hosts were on the front foot. It did not take long for Arsenal the shatter Chelsea’s resistance, as Leandro Trossard fired them ahead from a tight angle with just four minutes on the clock.
Whilst the Blues offered some measure of the threat on the break, in the first half at least, Arsenal were persistent in their efforts to apply pressure and win back possession in dangerous positions.
This is evidenced by one key statistic. As reported by Opta, Arsenal were able to win the ball in Chelsea’s own defensive third 15 times on Tuesday. They have never won possession in the final third so many times in a Premier League match before in Arteta’s tenure.
How Arsenal were able to dominate Chelsea
With Partey at the base of the midfield, Rice was able to take up a more advanced position in this match, as he could trust the Ghanaian to cover the space behind him. The former West Ham United star is an expert ball-winner, and was ably supported in this regard by Kai Havertz and Odegaard.
The Norwegian playmaker, in particular, is relentless in his pressing. Week in, week out, the club captain can be relied upon to harry and chase opposition players constantly. Odegaard has been described as a perfect Arsenal captain due to his tireless work ethic.
Partey has missed the vast majority of this season due to injury. Arteta will now be desperately hoping that the 30-year-old can remain fit and firing on all cylinders for the final four games of the campaign.
