Premier League: Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 to maintain title hopes alive

Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea on Sunday, marking their first win in 4 Premier League matches. Mikel Merino’s header within the twentieth minute was sufficient to present the Gunners all three factors, boosting their slim hopes of closing the hole to league leaders Liverpool.

Merino’s purpose got here after a well-delivered nook from Martin degaard, with the Spanish midfielder flicking a header over Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Arsenal had an opportunity to increase their lead within the sixtieth minute when Merino’s side-footed volley was saved brilliantly by Sanchez.

Arsenal supervisor Mikel Arteta expressed satisfaction with the consequence, telling BBC, “It was an enormous sport and we needed to win in opposition to a prime staff. We did sufficient to deserve the win. Now, with the worldwide break, we’ve an opportunity to breathe and hopefully deliver some gamers again.”

Chelsea, lacking key gamers as a result of harm, struggled to create probabilities. With prime scorer Cole Palmer and centre-forward Nicolas Jackson sidelined, they did not threaten Arsenal’s defence. Their closest try got here within the thirty seventh minute when Marc Cucurella’s angled volley slipped via goalkeeper David Raya’s palms however went simply vast of the submit.

The win leaves Arsenal in second place, 12 factors behind leaders Liverpool, who had been set to play Newcastle United within the League Cup ultimate later that day. Each groups have performed 29 matches, with 9 rounds of fixtures remaining.

Chelsea, now in fourth place, are only one level forward of Manchester Metropolis and 5 factors behind third-placed Nottingham Forest. Midfielder Moiss Caicedo remained optimistic, saying, “We need to play Champions League soccer subsequent season. The groups are shut, however we’re simply centered on ourselves as a result of that’s an important factor. Champions League soccer is our goal.”