As a result of his two goals in Tuesday’s 3-1 victory over toothless Chelsea, Martin Odegaard helped Arsenal regain the top spot in the Premier League.
After last week’s 4-1 loss at Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s team lost control of the title race. But with a much-needed first victory in five games, the Gunners made it clear they intended to challenge City right up until the end.
At the Emirates Stadium, the hosts jumped out to a three-goal lead before halftime after strikes from Odegaard twice and Gabriel Jesus.
The goal by Noni Madueke in the second half did little to ameliorate Chelsea’s poor performance.
Despite Pep Guardiola’s team still being the favorites to win the league, Arsenal is currently two points ahead of City in second position, and the north Londoners have at least put some pressure on the defending champions.
If City wins at home against West Ham on Wednesday, the first of their two games Arsenal still has left, they will reclaim first position.
“The first 60 minutes, I thought we played really well. That was everything I want to see from our team,” Arteta said.
“Speed, quality, movement, two beautiful goals, we connected with our crowd and created an incredible atmosphere.
“We wanted to earn the right to be top of the league. We are happy to be there.”
After ten weeks at the top, City’s victory over Fulham on Sunday forced Arsenal into second position.
Arsenal have been cast off as title race chokers as a result of three straight draws, including two lost two-goal leads.
However, Arteta insisted this week that the championship was still winnable, and his team rallied around him.
For Arsenal to get back on track before a challenging trip to Newcastle on Sunday, troubled Chelsea was the perfect opponent.
Since Frank Lampard took over as caretaker manager to take over for the fired Graham Potter, the Blues have now dropped all six of their games.
Chelsea, which is currently in 12th place and has gone nine games without a victory in all competitions, faces the possibility of missing out on a top-half finish for the first time since 1996.
“We were too nice to play against in all aspects in the first half. Not good enough,” Lampard said.
“It’s tough because you want to win games, but it’s our job, we’ll work on it.”