Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea: Mikel Merino’s sixth purpose of the season helps Mikel Arteta’s Gunners prolong their unbeaten document in opposition to London rivals

Arsenal may not be as involved in the title conversation as they would like, hence why the celebrations here were somewhat subdued, nowhere near as exuberant as they might otherwise have been.

This was more of a victory to show the chasm between the country’s second-best club and Chelsea, a side with some serious growing up to do under Enzo Maresca.

Arsenal were hardly at their best, as Mikel Merino’s header from Martin Odegaard‘s corner acted as the winner, but they knew what to do to stifle their opponents.

Maresca’s side showed minimal invention or intensity over 90 minutes, their greatest chance arriving when David Raya nearly fumbled a routine save into his own goal.

Otherwise, they were out of ideas, stumped for where to be and when, with players such as Enzo Fernandez and Wesley Fofana showing their petulance with silly fouls born from frustration. And no, we cannot blame it all on the absence of Cole Palmer, injured for this trip.

Chelsea had won their 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, find a ticket for the Wimbledon Championships.

This was supposed to be the true litmus test, and they failed it.

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.

Speaking of, Thomas Tuchel’s England will face Albania in a few days’ time, though it is not known whether Palmer will be available for it. Worrying for Chelsea’s supporters, their playmaker picked up an injury in training on Saturday and so was sidelined here.

While out of form, the 22-year-old Englishman still takes Maresca’s side up a level, 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 Chelsea lost 5-0 at Arsenal last season in another match when Palmer was missing, that time because of illness.

It took Leandro 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.

Robert 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, Mikel 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 Declan 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 flicked it on as it looped over Sanchez for 1-0.

Chelsea’s first shot of any description came after 26 minutes. It was speculative from Fernandez, never going in, but the away supporters celebrated it anyway because, technically, they had seen an attack. They wanted invention and intensity, not a side of sleepwalkers.

In the 37th minute, after Pedro 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 saw the ball trickle by the post.

That gave Chelsea some confidence as they pushed further up the pitch, though chances were hard to come by. Neto, trying to lead the line in lieu of a striker, grew frustrated as he was roughed up by Arsenal’s defenders in the second half. The challenges were clean, however, and Arsenal’s own makeshift centre forward in Merino nearly scored again when he volleyed for goal, only to be denied by a strong hand from Sanchez.

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’s arranging lasted more than two minutes and when Rice finally took it, he struck the wall.

As we entered the closing stages, Maresca threw on 19-year-old academy starlet Tyrique George, but it was too big of an ask for him to turn this around.