LONDON, United Kingdom – Arsenal returned to success at Everton (1-0), a first in six years, which allows them to remain at the heights of the Premier League on Sunday, well ahead of Chelsea , dropped to 14th place after another disappointment at Bournemouth (0-0).
Light Arsenal before the summits
Fourth in the championship, Arsenal broke the curse of Goodison Park, the Everton stadium where they had not won since 2017, at a time when Arsène Wenger was still in office.
With this success, acquired with patience, Mikel Arteta’s team advances more calmly towards its next two summits, Wednesday against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, then next Sunday against Tottenham in the Premier League.
This promises a dizzying shock against Spurs, second with thirteen points, the same total as Arsenal and Liverpool, third, after five days. Manchester City is ahead of the chasing trio with two more points on the clock.
Sunday, Arsenal escaped with a goal from Leandro Trossard (69th), Belgian left winger who came on in the first period after the injury of holder Gabriel Martinelli.
The 22-year-old Brazilian, obviously the victim of a muscle injury, had to give up his place after twenty-four minutes. This is the big downside of the evening for Arteta, already forced to cope without Jurriën Timber and Thomas Partey, two other potential starters also in the infirmary.
Whistles and regrets for Chelsea
After five days, Chelsea find themselves in fourteenth place, close to their end of last season (12th), but far from their ambitions and the millions invested this summer.
At the Vitality Stadium, however, the Blues were short of ammunition, deprived of their expensive midfield recruits, Moises Caicedo (knee) and Romeo Lavia (ankle), and older injured players like Reece James, Benoit Badiashile and Christopher Nkunku.
Their attack flopped, despite fourteen shots including two on the uprights (Nicolas Jackson and Raheem Sterling), a failure already seen in the previous match, lost 1-0 at home against Nottingham Forest.
And his defense was on the verge of cracking on a shot from Dominic Solanke that goalkeeper Robert Sanchez repelled, with the tip of his foot, in the 80th minute.
Chelsea find themselves in fourteenth place with five points, between Manchester United (13th, 6 pts) and Bournemouth (15th, 3 pts), its only victory having been against promoted Luton.
“I can’t say I’m happy, but it was a very competitive match. I think we deserve better, we deserve to win,” tried to be positive Mauricio Pochettino, who arrived on the bench at the end of May to right a drifting ship.
“With twelve injured and only three starting players today who were with us for the last two weeks (during the international break, editor’s note), I think I just need to say that the team really produced a good effort” , he said on Sky Sports.
Hosts of Aston Villa next weekend, the Londoners were booed at the end of the match by their supporters gathered in the visitors’ park. “They want us to win every match because we are Chelsea, we are ambitious,” reacted French defender Axel Disasi, not resentful at the broadcaster’s microphone.
2023-09-17 22:01:52
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