Arsenal take the next step
For all their good form, when it comes to away games against 'big six' opponents Arsenal haven't had too much practice so far this season. Despite coming through tough trips to places like Selhurst Park and Elland Road, the only traditionally top tier opponent they've faced away from the Emirates this campaign has been Manchester United.
In many ways, Sunday's match with Chelsea followed a similar script to the early September defeat at Old Trafford. Arsenal were on top for much of the early exchanges but failed to take golden opportunities, with Gabriel Jesus failing to convert a sumptuous counter attacking move.
That day against United though, as the clock ticked by, the young Gunners side's anxiety started to sky rocket. Having got themselves level after going behind against the run of play, they began to force things in search of a winner, leaving space in behind for Marcus Rashford to exploit on the counter. Contrast that to Sunday and it was almost night and day.
This time, despite failing to get in front, Arsenal continued to play the game their way. It was this that delighted Mikel Arteta more than the fact that his side had managed to slingshot themselves back up to the top of the Premier League. "It’s another step for us I think," the Spaniard said. "To come here against a top opponent, top world class players all over the pitch, dominate the game and actually win it is very meaningful. Hopefully it will give the boys even more belief."
Winning at Stamford Bridge isn't necessarily anything new to Arsenal. Sunday's victory marked three victories in a row away to Chelsea, but those previous two games were frantic, scrappy affairs in which the Gunners were lucky to escape back to north London with the three points. As the full time whistle blew on Sunday though, there could be no doubting who the deserved winners were.
Back in Manchester, Arteta was defiant in claiming that his side would not fall back into their inferiority complex against big teams away from home again as they had done in seasons gone by. Back then it was hard to fully believe him, but as with most things this season, the Spaniard has been proved right.
Arteta shows sense of humour with Saka treatment
Harking back to last week's win over Nottingham Forest, one of the main talking points had been the treatment of Bukayo Saka. The England international had been forced from the field early on in the game after taking yet another kicking by opponents, and from the off it was clear that Mikel Arteta didn't want to let this happen again.
Much to the disgust of Richard Keys, each time Saka was upended by a Chelsea defender, the Spaniard was out of his technical area like a hopping flea yelling furiously in the direction of fourth official Robert Jones. It didn't seem to have the desired effect though, as it was Saka who found himself on the receiving end of a first half yellow card after he was adjudged to have exacted revenge too severely on Marc Cucurella for what was a clear foul by the former Brighton left-back.
This is something that Arteta clearly wasn't happy about after the game too. "You saw me on that touchline," he said ironically when asked about the way Saka was refereed in his post-match press conference. "I was really calm and happy with the decisions."
In reality this has been an issue for a lot more than a week now. It's eight months on from when Saka called upon officials to provide him with more protection from aggressive defending at Aston Villa. That day he was met with derision by Steven Gerrard, who claimed the 21-year-old needed to toughen up. Little has changed since then and at times it has appeared to be open season when it comes to trying to kick the England international off the pitch.
If the referees won't do anything to stop this tactic though, it appears Saka is willing to take matters into his own hands. For all the booting he receives, the 21-year-old is steadfast in his commitment to playing his own game. Sunday was no different as he was relentless in his direct attacking of Cucurella and the Chelsea back line.
This tireless approach was typified by his set pieces. He had struggled all day from free kicks but refused to be deterred and stepped up to provide the wicked delivery on the corner that Gabriel turned home for the eventual match winner.
He is now on five goals and six assists for the season. You would hope that officials lax approach to their duty of care to him won't stop that from becoming even more.
Aubameyang vs Jesus
Going into the game there was only one narrative that people seemed interested in - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's reunion with Arsenal.
The pre-match promo for BT Sport's coverage of the game had featured the former Arsenal captain saying into the camera with a smile "it's nothing personal" along with several other phrases designed at stoking up the rivalry even further. In fairness to Aubameyang, the broadcasters didn't do him any favours with the clip. Sure, he could have said no, but BT knew what they were doing with a ploy that, critics would argue, was aimed solely at increasing the viewership of their own product and cared little for the consequences the player involved may have to endure.
It was the latest in a string of moments since his departure that have seen Aubameyang rub the Arsenal fan base up the wrong way. There was the leaked video of him buying jewellery in which he claimed that Mikel Arteta couldn't 'deal with big players', which in itself came in addition to his press conference upon joining Barcelona in which he claimed that he had no problem with Arsenal and that the 'problem was only with Arteta'.
The Gabon international has moved on social media to try and sooth any burns this may have caused among the Arsenal fan base, but from even before kick off on Sunday it was clear that there was to be no redemption. Both Mohamed Elneny and Aaron Ramsdale had made reference to their former skipper in pre-match comments and upon his first touch of the ball the sound of the travelling Gunners support booing Aubameyang soared loudly above any noise the Stamford Bridge faithful could make. Luckily for Aubameyang though, he was only to touch the ball seven more times to spare him from further ridicule on a frustrating afternoon.
Contrastingly, the man who has taken over from him at the spearhead of the Arsenal attack was simply sublime. Gabriel Jesus managed nearly eight times the number of touches of his predecessor (63 as per WhoScored) as he set the tone for an intense and mature Arsenal performance. Jesus may not have the predatory goal scoring instincts of Aubameyang, who probably would have put away the guilt edged chance the Brazilian spurned in the first half, but he adds so much more in terms of pressing, link up and teamwork. After the game Arteta was keen to highlight his current centre forward's display.
"They’ve been phenomenal," he said when asked about the off the ball performance of his front line before zooming the lens of his praise in on Jesus in particular." Then starting with Gabi (Jesus). What he did today was just phenomenal."
Regardless of how Arsenal fans may be feeling, it's impossible to ignore Aubameyang's legacy at the club. The 33-year-old more or less single handedly carried them to FA Cup success in 2020 after all. That team though is a world away from the Arsenal side of today.
It's clear the team have begun to evolve away from him, and Gabriel's full time social media post suggests that a few bridges may have been burned. While Aubameyang may have been the man for their past, it's clear that Jesus is the one for their present and future.
Gabriel display
William Saliba was absolutely superb again on Sunday. After receiving the Premier League man of the match award and being serenaded by the travelling support though, it's fair to say he's got his flowers this weekend. Instead, let's take a second to focus on the man who has spent the season alongside him.
Gabriel Magalhaes is probably one of the few Arsenal players who faced real adversity on an individual level this season. The Brazilian came under scrutiny for a few individual errors against Fulham and Tottenham that led many to question whether the Gunners could do better. Arsenal have been linked to left-footed centre back Evan Ndicka in recent weeks, and after links to Juventus and Barcelona, there were a few arguing that it might be time to let Gabriel go to move the project to its next level.
It came as something of a shock therefore when the announcement came that he had signed a new contract with the club last month. Since then though, he has been absolutely sublime.
With the way he wants to play, Mikel Arteta demands a lot from his centre backs. Arsenal intend to win the ball as high up the pitch as possible, which means that the last line of defence often have to patrol their entire defensive half of the pitch in transition. Not only is this physically exhausting given the amount of running towards your own goal that it requires, but it is mentally taxing too, to stay switched on at all times while your team attack the opposition end. Few centre backs in the world are capable of executing these demands to a high level, but Gabriel more than manages.
On Sunday he was sublime yet again, cutting out crosses, winning aerial duels and silencing not one, but two centre forwards in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Armando Broja. While he does not posses the elegance of his fellow centre back, his passing often goes under the radar, and the Brazilian led the way at the back for pass accuracy at Stamford Bridge with 84.8% and completed six of his eight long balls (as per WhoScored).
On top of that, he also has a leadership element to his game, and while others around him were losing their composure late in the game, he kept his head. As Granit Xhaka got involved in a tussle with Trevoh Chalobah and Mateo Kovacic towards the end of the game, Gabriel could be seen yelling "Granit" with his arms outstretched as if to say 'what are you doing? don't lose your head' as the Arsenal players trudged back towards their own half.
His fire and ice combo with Saliba is the bedrock upon which this Arsenal title charge is being built, and after the game Arteta was effusive in his praise for the duo. "I think that pair again they were outstanding both of them," the Spaniard told football.london. "That’s why we sustained it really well, especially when we had to defend open spaces, which is very difficult, again in this place, to do what we demand they do, but I think they did it really well."
While many will say it's still too early to talk about Premier League glory this season, one thing that is indisputable is that if you do not have an elite defence then you have no chance of winning a title. In Saliba and Gabriel Arsenal have just that, and who knows how far it could take them.
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