Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea: 5 Talking Points as first-half goal separates rivals in drab London derby | Premier League 2024-25

A game lacking in quality of real note saw Arsenal collect their first win in four Premier League games by beating Chelsea 1-0 on Sunday, March 16.

Heading into the game, the Gunners desperately needed a win to keep their faint title hopes alive. Coming off a 2-2 draw against Manchester United, they made two changes to the starting XI that saw the return of Gabriel Martinelli and Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The visitors, meanwhile, looked to make it five wins on the trot across all competitions. However, they were without their talismanic attacker Cole Palmer, who was ruled out with an injury. Reece James was named in midfield alongside Moises Caicedo, while Pedro Neto took on a more central role.

Arsenal started the game brightly and were able to generate loads of pressure on the Chelsea backline as well as goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. The Spaniard had multiple nervy moments, including giving the ball away cheaply to Martinelli inside 10 minutes that almost resulted in a goal.

The pressure eventually paid off as the Gunners broke the deadlock after 20 minutes. A corner delivered by Martin Odegaard to the near post saw Merino connect with it with a well-timed run and the ball looped past Sanchez to find the bottom corner.

The Blues slowly grew in confidence after conceding, dominating spells of possession but they were unable to create any real chances. Marc Cucurella came closest, with his fiery volley almost mishandled by David Raya into the goal.

It was more of the same in the second half as the Blues' attackers struggled to get into any sort of rhythm, while the hosts were content to hold on to their lead. The result sees Arsenal cut into Liverpool's lead at the top to 12, while Chelsea desperately need to find form to remain in the top four.

Here are the five talking points from the match:

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Arsenal vs Chelsea Talking Points

#5 Set-pieces back on the menu for Arsenal

An Arsenal side that had made set-pieces their strongest weapon struggled to make inroads using them over the past few weeks, having not scored from one in over six games. The streak was broken against their London rivals with Merino's well-timed header, the only goal in the game.

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#4. Cole Palmer loss makes Chelsea look toothless

Chelsea's forwards were unable to get anything going against an organized Gunners backline. The front three of Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho, and Christopher Nkunku struggled as they were unable to deal with the physicality and well-oiled nature of the defenders they came up against.

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#3. A largely boring affair decided by one moment

Merino's goal proved to be the decisive moment as neither side were able to create much after that. The Spaniard himself came closest to adding another, forcing a strong save from Sanchez. Otherwise, both teams' attackers did not have a fruitful day, with four shots on target for the hosts (0.77 xG) and just two for the visitors (0.35 xG).

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#2. Robert Sanchez's inclusion puzzled many and rightly so

Eyebrows were raised when Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca confirmed that Sanchez would get the nod ahead of Filip Jorgensen against Arsenal. Neither keeper has performed nearly well enough, but the Spaniard seemed to fall out of favour after a string of poor performances. His return saw the same questions from earlier pop up as he had an outing to forget.

His positioning for the Gunners' goal was questionable while he was visibly nervous on the ball, unable to play it short and also lost the ball quite easily.

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#1. The title race may be on, but the top four race is certainly on

Arsenal fans will hold on to their faint hopes of finally lifting the Premier League trophy, with the Gunners needing to cut down on a 12-point deficit with nine games to go. However, the race for European qualification is heating up. Only five points separate Chelsea in fourth from Bournemouth in 10th and teams will be keen on finishing in the top five, with England practically guaranteed the additional UCL qualification spot.