Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea: Mikel Merino’s sixth goal of the season helps Mikel Arteta’s Gunners extend their unbeaten record against London rivals

Beaten 5-0 the last time they visited Arsenal, Chelsea‘s players seemingly decided they would not be bullied upon this return to the Emirates Stadium. Therein lied the problem in what we were ultimately served up – beef in lieu of brilliance.

Enzo Fernandez committed petulant challenges as opposed to creating chances while filling in for Cole Palmer at No 10. Moises Caicedo squabbled with Leandro Trossard. Wesley Fofana started a rivalry with Declan Rice. Pedro Neto talked his way into the referee’s book when he was not blasting the ball over the crossbar from 30 yards.

We could go on, and it would be wrong to blame Chelsea’s creative famine solely on Palmer being sidelined by a muscular problem. In the end, it was proper that the team who tried to play in patches won, with Arsenal’s victory delivered via their moonlighting centre forward Mikel Merino flicking Martin Odegaard‘s corner over Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.

The celebrations at full-time were nowhere near as exuberant as they might otherwise have been, given how Mikel Arteta‘s team have fallen away from the Premier League’s title conversation. They are in a comfortable position to confirm qualification for the Champions League, at least. The same cannot be said for a Chelsea side now looking nervously over their shoulder.

Enzo Maresca had won his previous four matches in all competitions, which sounded nice as a statistic, though was caveated by how they came against Southampton, Leicester and Copenhagen twice.

Those victories did not stop Maresca from facing accusations that his style of football is too sideways for the fans’ liking. His philosophy centres on control, after all. If you want end-to-end action, source a ticket for this summer’s Wimbledon Championships.

Mikel Merino scored his sixth goal of the season to give Arsenal the lead after 20 minutes

Emergency striker Merino found the back of the net with a looping header following a corner

December 8, 2024 was the last time Chelsea celebrated an away win in the Premier League, delivered via a 4-3 comeback at Tottenham. A friend who drives to and from the away games as a fan calculated he had covered 1,446 miles since then. Not enough to make a dent in a trip to the moon, but the same mileage could have taken him to Albania.

Thomas Tuchel’s England will face Albania in a few days’ time, though Palmer may not be available after picking up an injury in Saturday’s training session. While out of form, the 22-year-old Englishman still takes Maresca’s side up a level by his very presence, having scored or assisted 20 of their 53 Premier League goals this season.

Palmer’s absence had a domino effect on Chelsea’s set-up. It forced Fernandez to fill in at No 10, which in turn moved Reece James into midfield, which meant Fofana went to right back, which brought Benoit Badiashile into central defence. Not ideal, and Palmer also missed last season’s 5-0 loss to Arsenal, that time because of illness.

It took Trossard four minutes to open the scoring in that April 2024 annihilation. He could have struck even earlier here, though could not stop his 12-yard shot from swerving wide.

Sanchez was back to being Chelsea’s No 1 over Filip Jorgensen and his first mistake came when he passed the ball straight to Gabriel Martinelli. Arsenal’s winger could not capitalise on the gift, though this was only the beginning of a comedic start from the visitors.

In the 12th minute, Arteta was wondering how they had not scored when an almighty goalmouth scramble ensued, kickstarted by Jurrien Timber picking up possession after Marc Cucurella fell forward on to the ball. Timber’s squared pass into the six-yard box was brilliantly defended by Fofana, but a double deflection from Badiashile then Levi Colwill forced Sanchez into a reactionary save as Rice blasted over the rebound. VAR took a long look at whether there was a Cucurella handball earlier in the move, but they gave him the benefit of the doubt. The same happened when Rice claimed Fofana had stamped on him after a foul.

Arsenal led 1-0 after 20 minutes and the only surprise was it took them so long. It came from a corner fired into the front of the waiting pack by Odegaard, who was playing his 99th game for his club as captain. Merino’s headed flick-on looped over Sanchez.

Chelsea’s first shot of any description came after 26 minutes. It was speculative from Fernandez and never going in, but the away supporters celebrated it anyway because, technically, they had witnessed an attack. In the 37th minute, after Neto and Christopher Nkunku had seen their shots blocked, Cucurella blasted a volley straight at Raya. It should have been a routine stop for Arsenal’s goalkeeper, but a fumble nearly saw him help Chelsea back into this game.

Referee Chris Kavanagh issued six yellow cards to players during a competitive London derby

Sunday’s victory saw Arsenal extend their unbeaten run against Chelsea to seven games

Chelsea have now suffered four consecutive defeats away from home in the Premier League

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta grinned while speaking to Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella (right)

Merino nearly scored again when he volleyed for goal, only to be denied by a strong hand from Sanchez, a fine stop which may serve as a reminder as to why Maresca still favours him.

In the 70th minute, Fofana brought down Myles Lewis-Skelly, an 18-year-old brimming with confidence after his first England call-up. Martinelli stood in front of Chelsea’s goalkeeper as he arranged his wall, trying to distract him. Arsenal are good at wasting time from free-kicks, and they took more than two minutes to take this one, with Rice striking the wall.

As we entered the closing stages, Maresca threw on Tyrique George, but it was too big of an ask for the 19-year-old academy graduate to turn this around by sheer will. Chelsea lacked invention, intensity, and in truth, this was one of the more comfortable 1-0 victories you will see in the Premier League.