If there was ever a time to beat Chelsea, this was it.
It felt like Arsenal’s season was on the brink of collapse. The last month or so had been mostly sotries of how things had turned for Arsenal. Sure their had been some bad luck in the losses, but the performances also weren’t good enough to overcome what can happen in this low scoring high variance sport.
Coming back from the international break, Arsenal were in a great position with some margin for error in the top four race. Well Arsenal used every bit of it and then some with the three straight losses, making this match huge in the race for top four.
Thankfully Arsenal were up for the challenge and are now even on points with Sp*rs with both teams having six games to decide everything.
Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal: By the graphics
Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal: By the numbers
4 – Goals for Arsenal, tied for the most goals allowed this season in the Premier League by Chelsea this season.
2.0 – Expected Goals (xG) for Arsenal, 3rd most xG allowed this season in the Premier League by Chelsea this season.
14 – Shots for Arsenal, 7th most shots allowed this season in the Premier League by Chelsea this season.
30 – Touches in the box by Arsenal, 7th most touches in the box allowed this season in the Premier League by Chelsea this season.
Arsenal’s four goals might have been a bit fortunate. They had 2 big chances (the first Eddie Nketiah goal and the Bukayo Saka penalty) but still created some solid medium quality chances in this match. Overall, this was up there as one of Chelsea’s worst defensive performances and I think should be viewed as a solid Arsenal win.
6 – Possessions for Arsenal in the opening quarter (23 minutes) where they were able to string together 3 or more passes.
23 – Possession for Arsenal and Chelsea in the opening quarter (23 minutes) where they were able to string together 3 or more passes.
46% – The percentage of possession for both teams that had 3 or more passes completed.
The opening period of this match was pure chaos. The game didn’t start great for Arsenal but they did get a goal against the run of play and then were able to get a foothold in the match (even if they did concede not long after).
92 – Final third touches for Arsenal from the 23rd to 60th minutes.
75 – Final third touches for Chelsea from the 23rd to 60th minutes. Chelsea had 72 in the first 23 minutes and 78 in the last 23 minutes.
9 – Shots for Arsenal from the 23rd to 60th minutes, for a toal of 0.6 expected goals.
4 – Shots for Chelsea from the 23rd to 60th minutes, for a total of 0.2 expected goals.
Arsenal controlled the middle of this match. It was a chaos to start the match but Arsenal were able to get a foothold controlling the middle period where they were able to get a lead that they would never relinquish.
Eddie Nketiah’s Very Good Day
15 – Pass Attempts, 22nd among all players
5 – Shots, 1st among all players
0.77 – non-penalty xG, 1st among all players
1 – Pass in the box Received
8 – Touches in the box, 2nd among all players
3 – Progressive Passes Received
0.38 – xG Buildup, 1st among all players
2 – Tackles
0 – Dribbled Past
Nketiah had a different type of match than what was typical from Alexandre Lacazette. He played much more like a poacher but also showed the benefit of a striker that can press and run against centerbacks. He also was still able to do things to help Arsenal’s attack, acting as a key player in the build up to goals while also doing fairly well to get on the end end of Arsenal’s targets for progression (especially given his total involvement).
Overall it was a solid match for Eddie and one where it really felt important to have a player like him in the lineup.
The Final Six Matches
Manchester Utd (H) – 6: 1.7 expected points
West Ham (A) – 8: 1.5 expected points
Leeds United (H) – 15: 2.0 expected points
Tottenham (A) – 4: 1.1 expected points
Newcastle Utd (A) – 14: 1.7 expected points
Everton (H) – 16: 1.9 expected points
13th hardest overall score
The stretch run for Arsenal looks manageable but will still be full of potential drama. Now that the Chelsea match is in the books, the hardest remaining match for Arsenal is the North London Derby. This weekend will be another big match for Arsenal on a quick turn around.
@oh_that_crab
Sources: Opta via Whoscored, StatsZone, my own database.
PS: Fuck Chelsea
Thr game was played like a cup game so we shouldn’t raise our hope high..we need to put our foot down and accept the fact that we have serious short comings and try to address it…
But cup or league. ..wining is always fun…enjoy it
They’re all cup finals from here!
(Somehow we’re still playing after losing the last three Cup Finals, but hey, that’s how it goes?)
For the first time in many moons the gunners were quick on the attack.Mu will be lurking.
The rd willbe hurting especially CR.
One man doesnt make a team.
He must be surrounded as soon as he has the ball if not he could
create havoc.
1-0 will do
I didn’t expect to wake up to this result. What a goodly morning it is!
I feel like we’ve blown our top 4 opportunity, and the stats support that, but hey, I’m a football fan… as they say its the hope that kills you.
I think so, too, but 5th is on, and that would represent a big improvement on last year, and we get some European football. I don’t agree with people who say there’s been no improvement this season. You can see the football is better. Consistency is the next step for this young team.
There are obvious improvements all over the park, and you can see improvements in fairly average players like Cedric, which is down to Arteta.
Next season, a key thing is we are ready to buy straight away in the summer window. Other teams will need to get rid of their dead wood (e.g. Man U) before they can make moves, so I think we are massively ahead in that respect…
If we can make European football and with some serious additions in the summer then next season should be amazing…🔥
What ? Behind Spuds? If we can beat the 3rd best team in the league in that fashion , we can win any of our remaining features. Not a mince affair but possible. Let’s see where we are after the Manure game. I enjoyed this season so far with this team. COYG
I’m in the Far East and watched it kick off at 2.45am/ How come you didn’t watch?
Have you never heard the expression ‘sp*rs-like performance in a 2 horse race’
I feel Ramsdale aint at his best as in early autum..Maybe the defence has been exposed ezpecially the two cd.
The gunners possession dipped but who cares as long az they win .
B,&H played from the back to keep
possession and werde duly punished.
Hopefully MA will ask the defenders to hoof the ball far away
I agree on Ramsdale. Looks like he is not fully recovered from his injury. I noticed his spring for saves ate slower, e.g. the 1st goal almost looked like he was trying to lie down to make the save rather than spring or fling his body towards it. Something with the Southampton goal.
our only hope to make top 4 is that spurs bottle it more than us
“If there was ever a time to beat Chelsea” I’d say it was in a Europa League final. But this was a very satisfying win.
I’m gutted I missed this, has shades of the 5-3 classic. How is it that everytime Arteta is facing the proverbial guillotine he pulls out a win against Chelsea?
we played like a champion, hats off
Firstly, what a game! 🙂
Xhaka played a stormer! Mo had a really good game despite an edgy start. Nketiah is a poacher, was great to see him play with confidence. I have considered him not good enough but maybe he should get a run to see for sure.
But what about lacazette! Best cheer leader I’ve ever seen!!!! Honestly, props to him, other strikers may not be so happy to be on the bench and watch others score. Speaks to his character!
🙂
COYG
By the numbers:
9: the cloud I’m still on after we’ve gone to the Bridge and given the Chavs a real spanking
Even Fatgooner is happy. My days
As happy as anybody for the win, but let’s also see reality before we go ballistic. Chelsea is in really poor form and have conceded 11 goals home in last three matches.
As we play today we’re a counterattacking team perhaps better suited to take on Sp*rs away than United at home. They were piss poor against Liverpool, but most team are including us.
But anyhow, hope is back again and that’s not a small thing.
A fairly dour assessment…
Firstly, were I really poor form too, we’ve lost the last 3 games shipping 6 goals against lower level opposition and have a threadbare squad. We didn’t just beat chelski, or a team above us, we arrested our downward trajectory and maintained our position in the race for the top four…. as well as beating chelski at their stinky place!
This, is absolute cause to go ballistic! 😁😁😁
If we had 14 shots, and 14 open play shots then which was the penalty? Do penalties count as shots? Just asking
There might be something weird there. Yeah because the penalty shouldn’t have counted as open play, I will make sure to fix that.