To put it another way, Arsenal responded to pressure like potential champions. Chelsea crumbled.
The moments that matter came at the start of both halves, and judging by what happened in that Arsenal blitz after the break – judging by the gesturing from Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice – Mikel Arteta had a hand in turning a nervy showing into one of the most emphatic wins of their season.
Here’s the tactical story of Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Chelsea.
Chelsea’s wingers give Arsenal early advantage
In the first 15 minutes Arsenal were all over Chelsea and could have been out of sight.
The problem for Mauricio Pochettino, other than a ponderous start, was the positions taken up by his two wingers when Chelsea did not have the ball.Sat in a 4-4-2, the visitors’ wingers Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke repeatedly failed to help their respective full-backs Marc Cucurella and Alfie Gilchrist.
Neither tracking the overlapping full-back nor doubling up on Bukayo Saka or Leandro Trossard, it was too easy for Arsenal to shuttle the ball out wide, drive at the overworked full-back and set a tempo that should have had the hosts two or three goals up.
After happening several times in an opening flurry of activity, it led directly to the opener in the fourth minute.
Kai Havertz dropped off the front line and, with nobody tracking him, he played the pass into Odegaard that opened up space for Rice, where Madueke – again out of position – should have been.From here, there was nothing Gilchrist could do with the overload on that side and Leandro Trossard showed why, with nine Premier League goals in the equivalent of 14.3 full matches this season, he is the clinical finisher this team needs.
Crucially, Burnley host Forest on the final day of the season.Erling Haaland has been ruled out of Manchester City’s trip to Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday through injury.
Haaland, the Premier League’s joint-top goalscorer this season, has not recovered from the problem that made him miss Man City’s FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea on Saturday.
“Erling is not ready for tomorrow,” manager Pep Guardiola said. “It’s not a big issue but he’s not available.”But Man City have been boosted by Phil Foden and John Stones being passed fit to play.
Foden reportedly missed training earlier this week, while Stones was forced to come off at half-time of Saturday’s FA Cup victory. Thursday’s match is a huge one in the title race. While Man City have two matches in hand on leaders Arsenal, they have slipped four points off top spot following the Gunners’ 5-0 win over Chelsea on Tuesday.
Indeed, Man City could also find themselves four points behind Liverpool, as the Reds are in action in the Merseyside derby at Everton on Wednesday. Alex Keble looks at how Arsenal recorded their biggest-ever win over Chelsea as the Gunners moved three points clear at the top with a 5-0 win.
To think that at half-time there were a few concerned faces around the Emirates after Chelsea had spent a good 20 minutes knocking at the door.
By the final whistle Arsenal had recorded their biggest home win of the season, humiliated their rivals and moved back to the top of the table with an extended goal-difference advantage.It was a strange game: a 5-0 drubbing that could have been different. Nothing went in for Chelsea in that first half, everything went in for Arsenal in the second.
“It’s the same with ‘Aro’, same with ‘Traffs’, same with so many players in our team. It’s the nature of the season we’re in.
“We can either give up or you support them and back them and you get the rewards at some point. That’s what we’ve done this season with many players.”
Redemption
Kompany certainly got his rewards as Muric delivered a man-of-the-match performance at Bramall Lane. He made 10 saves, the third-most in a match this season and just one short of the record for a Burnley ‘keeper in the top flight.
Sheff Utd’s Expected Goals (xG) tally was 2.92 compared with Burnley’s 1.94, but the Kosovan was beaten just once.
Two of his biggest saves in the match came when Burnley had a lead to protect, helping them avoid dropping more points from a winning position, having previously let slip 24, the second-highest total in the league.
Since Kompany turned to Muric, Burnley have earned two wins and three draws from six matches, securing nine points, the seventh-best tally in the league over that period.Burnley’s Expected Goals Against (xGA) has also taken a massive swing in a positive direction with Muric between the sticks, going from -8.44 to +3.26.
Muric could now be a key figure again as Burnley travel to Old Trafford, potentially facing a barrage of shots from a Manchester United side who have scored 19 goals in their last seven matches in all competitions.If Muric can perform more heroics and Burnley can grab a win against the Red Devils, they would move level on points with 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who have a tough home fixture against Manchester City on Sunday.
With his self-belief growing, his conversion rate of 38.1 per cent under his current manager makes him one of the Premier League’s most lethal marksmen on current form.Mateta adds value to the Palace side with his aerial threat in general play, but just one of his 11 Premier League goals this season has been from a header.
His sharpness on the ground is improving quickly under the new manager, as displayed when his clever one-two with Jordan Ayew opened space for him to score against Newcastle.Burnley took a big step forward in their bid for safety with last weekend’s 4-1 win over Sheffield United, and the man at the heart of the victory has justified the faith put in him by his manager.
It has been a rollercoaster few weeks for goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
Promoted to the starting XI last month in place of summer signing James Trafford, he enjoyed a positive start, with a 2-1 win against Brentford and then draws against Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But at Everton Muric made a costly mistake, allowing Dominic Calvert-Lewin to close him down and deflect his clearance into the net for the only goal in a relegation six-pointer.
It then got worse in the following match against Brighton & Hove Albion as Muric let a backpass roll under his foot for a late equaliser.Yet his boss, Vincent Kompany, stuck with the goalkeeper for the trip to Sheff Utd.
When asked after the victory over the Blades if he had a difficult decision to make over who started in goal, Kompany said: “No, it’s not a difficult position at all.
“I’ve had this type of season with my players where I’ve had to back them, otherwise you end up with no players left on the pitch. You have to back them and you have to support them.