Set-piece derby: Arsenal win corner-kick battle against ten-man Chelsea

Not too pleasing and appealing football, three goals (all after corner kicks?!), another game which Chelsea ended with a man down, and Arsenal’s hard-won victory - that’s in short the summary of today’s London derby at the Emirates Stadium - 2-1.

The Gunners and the Blues engaged in a genuine “corner-kick battle”, and in the end, the more experienced team in this discipline triumphed. After all, all three goals were scored by the home team.

William Saliba opened the scoring in the 21st minute, Piero Hincapie levelled with an own goal in added time at the end of the first period, while Jurrien Timber netted the vital winner for Arsenal in the 66th minute.

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Four minutes after the Dutchman’s goal, Pedro Neto was sent off, closing the door on the Blues’ chances to triumph and proving that Liam Rosenior’s crew has serious discipline problems, as it was their seventh Premier League dismissal this season!

Either way, Arsenal maintained the five-point advantage ahead of Manchester City at the top of the EPL table, while Chelsea are now below the Champions League zone.

One rarely sees more boring 45 minutes with more goals than the opening half in today's duel at Emirates Stadium.

The rivals were pretty uninspired. Even when they had chances to threaten, they mostly ruined them with poor passes and bad decisions. Arsenal's pressing was somewhat effective at the start of the match, as Chelsea's back line was quite shaky, but as the break approached, the Blues' defenders were much better.

There were no massive chances, and yet, the crowd in London saw two goals - one in each net and both after corner kicks.

The Gunners broke the deadlock in the 21st minute with a three-move action. Bukayo Saka crossed the ball to the far post, Gabriel Magalhaes returned it into the box, where William Saliba put it past Robert Sanchez.

However, in added time, just before the break, Chelsea responded, only this time, the home team's Piero Hincapie slotted the ball into his own net after Reece James’ cross, giving the packed Emirates a cold shower.

The second period started with Enzo Fernandez's decent long-range effort, which David Raya parried away for a corner. It brought the first colossal opportunity in the game, for Joao Pedro, but the Spanish custodian superbly denied the striker's dangerous header.

In that period, the visitors had the momentum, as Mikel Arteta's men seemed to be on the ropes, desperately fighting not to concede another goal.

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And then, one set piece, or in this case one corner kick, changed everything. For the third time in the London derby, a corner brought a goal! This time, Declan Rice took it in the 66th minute, perfectly finding Jurrien Timber inside. The Dutchman had an easy task to nod it and place it in the back of Sanchez's net, completely turning the tables.

But why "turning the tables" when Chelsea still had a chance to avoid a defeat? Well, four minutes later, Pedro Neto deprived them of that opportunity, receiving his second booking and getting himself dismissed! It was the Blues second consecutive red card, their seventh in the current Premier League campaign, and ninth in total this season!

In the 80th minute, the crowd finally saw a chance from open play, as Sanchez amazingly denied Eberechi Eze's great strike. Despite the numerical deficit, Rosenior subbed on the forwards, Alejandro Garnacho and Liam Delap, bravely pursuing the eventual equalizer, but Arsenal didn't give his team a chance, although Delap's added-time leveller was disallowed for offside.

The Gunners recorded a vital hard-won victory and maintained the five-point edge over the second-placed Manchester City, while the Blues dropped from the Champions League zone after a while. Things don't look good for the Stamford Bridge crew at the moment.

PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 28

Friday

Wolves - Aston Villa 2-0 (0-0)

/Gomes 61, R. Gomez 90+8/

Saturday

Bournemouth - Sunderland 1-1 (0-1)

/Evanilson 63 - Mayenda 18/

Burnley - Brentford 3-4 (1-3)

/Kayode 45+3 (og), Anthony 47, Flemming 60 - Thiago 25, Schade 34, Damsgaard 9, 90+3/

Liverpool - West Ham 5-2 (3-0)

/Ekitike 5, Van Dijk 24, Mac Allister 43, Gakpo 70, Disasi (og) 82 - Soucek 49, Castellanos 75/

Newcastle - Everton 2-3 (1-2)

/Ramsey 32, Murphy 82 - Brantwaithe 18, Beto 34, Barry 83/

Leeds - Manchester City 0-1 (0-1)

/Semenyo 45+2/

Sunday

Brighton - Nottingham Forest 2-1 (2-1)

/Gomez 6, Welbeck 15 - Gibbs - White 13/

Fulham -Tottenham 2-1 (2-0)

/Wilson 7, Iwobi 34 - Richarlison 66/

Manchester United - Crystal Palace 2-1 (0-1)

/Fernandes 57 (p), Sesko 65 - Lacroix 4/

Arsenal - Chelsea 2-1 (1-1)

/Saliba 21, Timber 66 - Hincapie 45+2 og/