Arsenal will maintain their five-point lead atop the Premier League table for at least another few days, securing a 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday as a batch of familiar habits – good and bad – were on full display for both sides.
For a match defined by title race intrigue and game-changing moments, it was marked by stereotype in equal measure. Quality chances for both sides were few and far between over the course of the 90 minutes, set pieces coming to the rescue of each side when establishing a free-flowing rhythm seemed not to be an option, either by choice or lack of ability. Naturally, the Gunners capitalized first – their eight first-half chances only generated 0.7 expected goals but a tried-and-true corner routine meant the stop-start nature of the game was no trouble at all. An inswinging corner meant Gabriel connected with it on the far post, allowing William Saliba to score from close range in the 21st minute on the other end of the goal.
As cliché as the Gunners’ advantage was, the Premier League leaders were doing just fine because they knew Chelsea were incapable of taking change of a game that was discordant by design. Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez have done what they can to paper over the cracks of an inconsistent Blues offense, the drop-off from last year in large part because the weight of fixture congestion seems to weighing heavily on Cole Palmer. The Blues are They are also not much of a first half team – Chelsea lead the league on expected goals with 52.99, behind last season’s pace through 28 games with 56.72, but slip down to third when isolating for the period before the halftime break, posting just 22.04 in the first 45 minutes. Sunday’s game an extreme version of the phenomenon but a signal of the trend nonetheless – they took three shots but put none on target, generating 0.41 expected goals along the way.
In a league where set pieces seem to have an oversized role in proceedings these days, though, Liam Rosenior’s side were able to give the hosts a taste of their own medicine just before the br