Chelsea’s hopes of cementing their top-four status were dealt a major blow with Thomas Tuchel’s side falling to a narrow defeat at the hands of Arsenal on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.
MATCH PROCEEDINGS
The Blues got off to a positive start on the attacking front and it was Kai Havertz, who had been recalled into the XI at the expense of Timo Werner, who had an opportunity to put his side in the lead but spurned his chance by striking it way above the bar.
And just minutes later on the other end of the pitch, it was the Gunners who took the luckiest of leads through Jorginho’s misplaced pass which allowed Aubameyang to set up Smith Rowe for the opening goal.
Chelsea then hoped to get back into the game and were on the attacking end of the pitch more often than their opponents in the final stages of the first half but went into the break trailing the Gunners by one goal to nil.
Minutes into the closing 45 minutes Chelsea’s call for a penalty kick following a foul on Havertz were turned down by VAR and the decision system further added a blow to the hosts’ ambitions of a leveller when Pulisic’s strike was ruled out due to offside in the buildup to the goal.
Tuchel was quick to bring on reinforcements for his side up top on the pitch with the largely marginalised figure of Olivier Giroud coming off the bench to no avail as the west London giants’ attempts of finding the back of the net bore no fruit.
Chelsea hit the bar twice in the dying embers of the match, first through Zouma and then through Giroud, but Arsenal proved capable of protecting their paper-thin lead and eventually secured a pivotal win on their travels away from home.
