In the 28th round of the English Premier League, the central match took place in the spirit of a true derby, and Arsenal strengthened their lead in the table by defeating Chelsea 2-1 at home. Interestingly, all the goals in the match were scored after a corner kick.
Mikel Arteta's team opened the scoring in the 21st minute. After a set piece, William Saliba found the right position in the opponent's penalty area, putting the Gunners ahead. However, Chelsea responded just before halftime: in the 45+2nd minute, Piero Hinkapi scored an own goal, equalizing the score.
In the second half, the decisive moment came again from the standard. In the 66th minute, Jürrien Timber capitalized on a corner kick to score the winning goal for Arsenal. Shortly after, in the 70th minute, Pedro Neto received a red card and left the field, forcing Chelsea to finish the game with one man down.
Arsenal - Chelsea 2:1
Goals: Saliba (21), Timber (66) - Hinkapi (45+2, own goal).
Arsenal: Raya, Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Hinkapi, Rice (Nørgaard, 76), Subimendi, Eze, Saka, Trossard (Martinelli, 55), Gokeres (Havertz, 76).
Chelsea: Sanchez, Caloba, Sarr (Adarabioyo, 90), Hato (Gusto, 75), James, Santos (Lavia, 75), Caicedo, Fernandes (Delap, 86), Neto, Palmer (Garnacho, 86), Pedro.
Yellow cards: Palmer (59), Hato (65), Neto (67), Gabriel (75), Fernandez (79).
Red card: Net-u (70).
Thus, "Arsenal" reached 64 points, taking a very important step in the championship race. In second place, "Manchester City" has 59 points, and the difference is five points; the "citizens" have another substitute game. Chelsea, with 45 points, lost valuable points in the race for top spots.
In short, Arsenal won this time not through open play, but through dominance in set pieces, discipline, and pressure. The London derby once again showed that big games are sometimes decided by one standard, one mistake, and one cold moment.
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