Arsenal 5. Chelsea 0. The Premier League witnessed a real manita this Tuesday evening. If the result at the break (1-0) could suggest a suspenseful encounter, the Gunners activated several additional gears in the second half to march on their rival and glean three new precious points in the ever more undecided title race. This success, their biggest in all competitions against Chelsea, is no longer a coincidence as Arsenal have shown that they can transform into an intractable machine this season. Indeed, this Homeric success is his sixth by at least five goals this season in the Premier League. Only Manchester City did better four years ago.
The Skyblues were undoubtedly in front of their television and now feel the pressure on their shoulders. Ten days ago, they took advantage of defeats at Arsenal and Liverpool to take the lead in the championship, a lead that many believed would not change until the end of the season. Except that the unusual schedule of the Premier League made it possible to play twice before any Manchester City match. With their two successes, Arsenal have regained the lead and are now four points ahead of the three-time reigning champions.
“It’s a real message to City”explained Gunners legend Martin Keown after the match. “I hope Liverpool and Manchester City are watching us, even explained Leandro Trossard, scorer. For our part, we can only do our job, which is to win. We are on the right track now and we will try to win the rest of the games and we will see what happens.”
The rest of the matches, in fact, will be very difficult to manage with a trip to Tottenham this Sunday and another to Manchester United in mid-May. However, optimism has returned to the Emirates Stadium because Arsenal have finally digested recent events brilliantly and are moving forward with a team that has just performed in a match that was expected to be tricky. Best attack and best defense in the championship, Arsenal has the arguments to make. According to Opta, his goal difference of +56 is even the greatest ever achieved in the history of the Premier League.
Twenty years later, Arsenal can still believe in a new title but must count on a failure by Manchester City for that. If the Mancunian club has proven its ability not to break down when it comes time to conclude, it has also shown small, unusual signs of weakness this season. A late game is never a game won in advance, even for City. Trips to Brighton or Tottenham could change everything while City cannot even afford the slightest share if Arsenal wins all the matches they have left based on goal difference. Suspense returned to the Premier League, to the delight of everyone except City.
