Ødegaard’s double puts Arsenal back on top of Premier League as Chelsea wilt

“It’s not over,” Mikel Arteta had said on Monday. It feels as if it is, Manchester City just too powerful, as evidenced by their 4-1 dismissal of Arsenal last Wednesday. But Arsenal cannot allow their Premier League title push to fizzle out. They owe it to themselves after the excellent season they have produced.

Arteta’s men kept up their side of the bargain, moving back to the top of the table, two points clear of City, having played two matches more, although to have failed to beat this Chelsea team would have been an abdication.

Frank Lampard’s visitors were almost implausibly bad in the first half. Then again, it has been all too believable for their supporters of late. Arsenal were 3-0 up after 34 minutes, the game over.

The outstanding Martin Ødegaard scored the first two, Gabriel Jesus added the third and the damage could have been heavier. Chelsea did muster a consolation, Noni Madueke scoring his first for the club, and what passed for a late push but it is now six losses out of six for Lampard – equalling the club’s worst sequence in 30 years. The blot for Arsenal was an injury to Gabriel Magalhães but the response to the hammering at City was there. It was their first win in five games.

The fighting talk from Arteta had been pronounced in the buildup. It has been for a while, his players knowing that he believed in them to stay alive in the title race. “I would pay a lot to be in this position at this moment next season,” he had added.

The Arsenal manager twisted with his starting XI, looking for some freshness post-City. It was Jakub Kiwior for Rob Holding, Jorginho for Thomas Partey, Leandro Trossard for Gabriel Martinelli. Arteta’s idea was to bring the hustle and control the tempo. To be ruthless.

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