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.