Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea: Havertz Brace sinks Chelsea as Arsenal go top of the league

Arsenal fans were not eager to watch today - they had to lower prices and offer tickets to the public rather than just Arsenal club members

Have a look at the latest Arsenal football news on MightyTips.

Mikel Arteta - “I have the same message that we need to keep doing what we’re doing, focus on the game and the task, prepare the game well and the boys look ready to go again,”

“It meant a lot for us (The 2-0 win against Wolves). We are in a great position and we have been for nine months. We really want to give it a real go and we are really determined to do what is in our hands to lift the trophy.”

Pochettino named a lineup with an average age count of under 24 for the seventh time this season, in the Premier League. 

Both Cole Palmer and Malo Gusto were not in the squad, with Palmer still suffering from his illness. 

Axel Disasi - “We are ready to fight tonight and I hope that we play a great game. Everyone likes to play big games. Everyone likes to play like this and we know that when we play the big games we play well but we have to keep this quality. Today we are focused on Arsenal.”

“Cole did a great job since the beginning of the season. It will be difficult to play without him but I trust in the quality of the team. We have a lot of quality and I hope that the player who plays today will show his quality.”

Prior to this game, Chelsea have only won once against Arsenal in their last nine meetings - which was a 2-0 triumph at the Emirates. Chelsea’s last game against the Gunners ended in a 2-2 deadlock after blowing a first half 2-0 lead.

English Premier League betting sites had Arsenal favored as the winner of this game.

Despite Enzo Fernandez looking for an early lifeline for the away side, Madueke was outplayed by Tomiyasu who eliminated the threat with no problem.

GOAL 4’ - Arsenal opened the scoring with an early Trossard strike - the 0.05 xG at the time was enough for the Gunners to capitalize and break through. Declan Rice with a great assist, a product of his ball carrying prowess. 1.34 | 1xbet - First team to score

That was the Gunners’ 100th goal this season in all competitions - Trossard also scored the club’s 1000th all-time goal earlier this season. 

Most football betting sites in the UK had Trossard to score at any time - which would have been a smart decision.

As of the 19th minute, both teams had equal shots - however none of Chelsea’s were on target.

Axel Disasi missed a big chance to make it 1-1 in the 19th minute, going well wide with a right-footed shot. 

The 30th minute saw a more end-to-end game with Chelsea managing to sneak a few more shots in - but so did the Gunners. Both sides xG began to exceed that of 1.00.

Half time saw a score of 1-0 to the Gunners. Arsenal with a 1.27 xG and Chelsea with 1.21. Both sides had a good level of possession. 

Arsenal recorded a total of 13 shots against the Blues in the first half - something they have not done against Chelsea since 2003.

Second half kick started with a shot on goal by Rice, and a shot well over the bar by Odegaard. Arsenal wasted no time in trying for a second goal. 

GOAL 52’ - Ben White drove a left-footed shot in from close range, a deflected shot from Declan Rice fell to White, who easily curved it around Petrovic. 2.00 | Bet365 - To score in both Halves

Arsenal’s 19 shots to Chelsea’s five, as of the 57th minute, were clear indicators of the way the game was going. 

GOAL 57’ - 2-0 saw Chelsea begin to collapse and cave in at the Emirates, with former Chelsea man Kai Havertz rubbing salt into the wounds by making it 3-0. A proper restart after the break from the Gunners was well and truly rewarded.

A lifeline for Chelsea was dispersed in the 61th, when Madueke managed to win the ball from Tomiyasu and play Jackson through - only to strike it into the side netting. 

GOAL 65’ - Bukayo Saka was the architect for another Kai Havertz goal, finding the German in the box who had an easy finish into the bottom left. Kai Havertz is the first and only former Chelsea player to have bagged a brace against them, in the Premier League. 2.48 | 22bet - Over 3.5 Goals

Raheem Sterling replaced Mykhaylo Mudryk in the 66th minute with a change hoping to have turned Chelsea’s fortunes going forward. A minute later, Trevor Chalobah was introduced for Enzo Fernandez.

GOAL 70’ - Ben White added another goal to his tally, and Arsenal’s fifth. Odegaard set the defender up for a brilliant volley, a lofted pass which ended up creating Ben’s strike. 33.00 | 20Bet - Correct score 5:0

Arteta then made a quadruple change, bringing Gabriel Jesus on for Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli on for Trossard, Jorginho on for Thomas Partey, and Zinchenko on for Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Pochettino brought Thiago Silva on to replace Gilchrist – Silva confirmed to be leaving this Summer after the Blues chose not to renew his contract.

Arteta’s fifth substitution meant Bukayo Saka made way for Fabio Vieira.

Arsenal, as of the 85th minute, were 2.66 in terms of xG. Their 24 shots compared to Chelsea’s 7.

Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Chelsea meant they go three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the premier league - but City have a game in hand against Brighton.

While Chelsea sit ninth in the league, just a point behind West Ham.

Ben White was one of the outstanding performers on the Gunners’ side. He chipped in with two goals from defense, while also managing to keep a clean sheet.

Two attempted shots on target meant two goals - a very clinical evening for the Englishman. He also recorded 48/58 accurate passes throughout the game - 83% - and was only dribbled past once.

"Everyone worked so hard"

Leandro Trossard and Ben White talk @julesbreach through their 5-0 win over Chelsea... pic.twitter.com/OiMgj1MwEO

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 23, 2024

A jubilant Mikel Arteta was bursting with pride for his Arsenal team. He commented on the performance;

Yes, a big performance. I thought collectively and individually we were really good against a really good team that was in great form and that was going to ask us a lot of great questions. I think we responded really well.

Arteta also spoke of the attitude and creativity shown by his men, throughout the whole game;

From the first half we were really flowing and playing with a lot of courage and making things happen. Really happy today with the result, it’s a great day for our supporters as well. So really happy with that..

🗣️| Mikel Arteta on Martin Ødegaard: “We agreed that he was a player with huge talent and he could grow with us. We were convinced he could add something special to the team.” [TNT] #afc pic.twitter.com/w5TQtBviDt

— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) April 23, 2024

Mauricio Pochettino had a lot to say about the loss and spoke out about they struggled to recover from the 1-0 deficit they held at half time;

I think we started the game not so well. We conceded the goal and then it was difficult for us to recover from this goal. I think in the first half we compete after 10, 15 minutes. We could not approach the game like we started in the first half and we didn’t compete the way we needed to compete and then when they scored the third it was easy for Arsenal to control the game.

Another part of Chelsea’s game which they struggled in was finishing - Mauricio spoke out about how much more clinical the attackers have to be in such a crucial match;

I think you need to be clinical. Like against Manchester City three days ago, we were not clinical and then today the same thing happened. Difficult performance because it is not nice to see your team play like this when you are mean to have full energy. After three days when you play a fantastic game against Manchester City, today we are disappointed with the performance.

"We didn't compete in the way we needed to"

Mauricio Pochettino reflects on Chelsea's 5-0 defeat to Arsenal...

🎙️ @julesbreach pic.twitter.com/lOVgzBE4A7

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 23, 2024

Arsenal 

David Raya 6.1; Takehiro Tomiyasu 7.1, Gabriel Magalhaes 7.1, William Saliba 6.8, Ben White 9.2; Declan Rice 8.3, Thomas Partey 7.2, Martin Odegaard 9.1; Leandro Trossard 8.1, Kai Havertz 9.0, Bukayo Saka 8.6.

Subs: Aaron Ramsdale N/A, Gabriel Jesus 5.8, Emile Smith Rowe N/A, Gabriel Martinelli 6.0, Eddie Nketiah N/A, Jakub Kiwior N/A, Jorginho 6.6, Fabio Vieira 5.9, Oleksandr Zinchenko 6.5.

Chelsea

Djordje Petrovic 5.5; Marc Cucurella 4.9, Benoit Badiashile 5.3, Axel Disasi 5.2, Alfie Gilchrist 4.7; Enzo Fernandez 4.7, Moises Caicedo 5.2; Mykhailo Mudryk 6.6, Conor Gallagher 6.2, Noni Madueke 6.6; Nicolas Jackson 6.3.

Subs: Thiago Silva 6.1, Raheem Sterling 5.8, Marcus Bettinelli N/A, Trevoh Chalobah 6.3, Carney Chukwuemeka N/A, Cesare Casadei 6.4, Deivid Washington N/A, Jimi Tauriainen N/A, Kiano Dyer N/A.