Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table on Tuesday night as they beat Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side 3-1 at The Emirates.
The Gunners took the lead in the 18th minute through their captain as Martin Odegaard beautifully curled a strike in off the crossbar from an excellent and intelligent cutback from Granit Xhaka.
Mikel Arteta’s side only needed 13 minutes to double their tally and the same duo combined to make it 2-0, with Xhaka crossing for the Norway international to grab his second. Three minutes later, Gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 with a low finish after a few seconds of pinball in the Chelsea six-yard box.
Noni Madueke pulled one back in the 64th minute as Oleksandr Zinchenko fell asleep from a ball over the top and the Blues forward scrambled his shot past Aaron Ramsdale.
Odegaard was undoubtedly the one who will steal the headlines with his brace on the night, as the playmaker returned to form after a dismal outing against Manchester City, registering a WhoScored match rating of 5.94, rather going into hiding when the pressure was on.
That said, Arsenal’s real hero of the match was central midfielder Xhaka as his display in the middle of the park was simply a joy to watch.
How did Granit Xhaka perform against Chelsea?
The £120k-per-week brute was exceptional in midfield and was one of the standout players for the Gunners as his constant running and clever forward play made him a nightmare for the opposition’s defence.
During Sky Sports’ live commentary on the game, pundit Jamie Carragher claimed the Swiss had “caused massive problems for Chelsea all night” after one specific piece of play in the second period. Indeed, Xhaka picked up the ball just outside the area, nutmegged a Chelsea player and then very nearly scored
That happened to be an astute observation by the former Liverpool defender who was seemingly very impressed by the ex-Arsenal captain’s display.
Xhaka was consistently picking up positions in the space that N’Golo Kante vacated when the Frenchman attempted to deploy a high press on Arteta’s defence and that allowed him to set up Odegaard twice in the first half, with both of his assists coming from the left flank.
The 30-year-old, who had 51 touches on the night, also played a big role in the third goal for Arsenal as his shot from inside the six-yard box fell kindly for Jesus to smash in.
He also completed 87% of his attempted passes and two of his three attempted dribbles. The midfield general was effective and efficient with his work in possession and, ultimately, provided some of the most important touches in the game with his contributions to all three goals.
Therefore, the experienced ace was the big difference between the two sides from a tactical and technical perspective and Arteta will surely be hoping for more of the game from him until the end of the season.
