Odegaard proves again he’s Gunners’ most influential player while Rice shows what a £100m man should do
MARTIN ODEGAARD was at his illustrious best as he showed what it takes to be a world-class midfielder as Arsenal bossed the Blues in North London.
It took Mikel Arteta‘s men just three minutes to open the scoring through Leandro Trossard’s left footed drive after a neat pass from the English midfielder.
It wasn’t a perfect Gunners’ performance by any means, as Nicolas Jackson missed a few customary chances and Gabriel turned the ball onto his own post in the first half.
After half-time though, things went from bad to dramatically worse…
It was Rice causing problems, as his strike deflected off Conor Gallagher and the chance was laid bare for Ben White to stroke home with his left peg.
Before long it was three, and then four with the most crushing blows coming from Chelsea’s Champions League winner Kai Havertz, the German forward was played in by Martin Odegaard and then Bukayo Saka before easing it past Petrovic both times.
Chelsea subbed on an extra defender, which only made things worse as Ben White got his brace with 20 minutes still to go, after a dinked ball from Odegaard again made it FIVE.
Excellent for Arteta and embarrassing for Pochettino on the night as Arsenal went top of the Premier League and piled the pressure on their title rivals.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated the Arsenal players…
DAVID RAYA – 6/10
Commanded his area well when needed, but it was ultimately a quiet night for the Spanish stopper.
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TAKEHIRO TOMIYASU – 5
Struggled with the pace of Noni Madueke at times as he continued to return from injury, but managed to keep a clean sheet before being subbed in the 72nd minute.
WILLIAM SALIBA – 7
Real Madrid are you watching?
Composure personified tonight, his physicality and speed were exceptional as per usual, and he was there every time he was called upon.
GABRIEL – 6
Stepped into tackles nicely on a few occasions, and it was a solid performance from the Brazilian centre-half, but was fortunate not to put the ball in the back of his own net in the first half.
Struggled to cope with the pace of Nicolas Jackson at times in the first half, with little to do in the second.
BEN WHITE – 8
Linked up brilliantly with Bukayo Saka on the right hand side, and looked unphased defensively against the pace of Mykhailo Mudryk.
Finished with on his left foot following a rebound to double Arsenal’s lead, before securing his brace with a tidy volley into the top left corner.
DECLAN RICE – 8
Was superb in midfield against the club he played for as a boy.
Claimed his sixth assist of the season setting up Leandro Trossard’s opener with an early assist, before nearly scoring himself. It was his deflected effort that allowed Ben White to roll home the second, almost added a goal to his tally too.
MARTIN ODEGAARD – 9
Dazzled with build up play, and caused problems with his passing as he always does. Two more assists, which takes him to eight goals and eight assists this season.
Maestro Martin Odegaard; creative, incisive, decisive.
THOMAS PARTEY – 7
Set the tempo early on in midfield for the Gunners alongside Declan Rice, intercepted well on a few occasions and was great in transition for Arteta’s men.
LEANDRO TROSSARD – 7
Opened the scoring early on with a left-footed finish slotted into the corner, his tenth goal of the season and second in as many games.
BUKAYO SAKA – 6
Not his finest night, gave the ball away loosely in the first quarter of the game and was kept quiet early on by Marc Cucurella, tired perhaps…
Grew into the game in a big way and ended up with an assist for his troubles.
KAI HAVERTZ – 8
Impotent for the entirety of the first half, but clinical in the second.
Two classy left-footed finishes saw him bag a brace against his former club, but it could’ve easily been three or four.
SUBS:
GABRIEL MARTINELLI (TROSSARD, 72) – 5
Brought on to replace Trossard, hoping to build himself some confidence and maybe grab a goal – it didn’t materialise, missed a 1v1 at the death to make it six.
OLEXANDR ZINCHENKO (TOMIYASU, 72) – 5
More minutes under his belt as he returns to full fitness. Provided a lovely nutmeg for the fans to enjoy towards the end.
GABRIEL JESUS (HAVERTZ, 72) – 5
Almost added an assist to his tally when he backheeled the ball to Declan Rice who hit the post, ultimately not ending his goal scoring drought since returning from injury.
Looked like he was lacking confidence.
JORGINHO (PARTEY, 72) – 5
Watched the clock tick down against his passive former side.
FABIO VIEIRA (SAKA, 80) – 5
A few minutes in the tank for the diminutive Portuguese man, almost scored a rocket in the dying moments, but hit the side netting.