LONDON: Jorginho’s misplaced back-pass helped gift Emile Smith Rowe the only goal as Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 to stop the Blues moving third in the Premier League.

Arsenal thus completed their first Premier League double over Chelsea since the 2003-04 season. This was their first league win at Stamford Bridge since October 2011, ending an eight-game winless run there (D2 L6).

Italy midfielder Jorginho’s miscued pass left the out-of-position Kepa Arrizabalaga scrambling across goal, with the Spain stopper forced to parry off the line.

Smith Rowe capitalised on a rare Chelsea error under Thomas Tuchel and slotted home, for Arsenal’s third-straight Premier League victory.

Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud struck the bar within mere seconds of each other at the death, as Chelsea wasted a host of chances in a dominant but disjointed performance.

Blues boss Tuchel had made seven changes to keep his players fresh, with Saturday’s FA Cup final against Leicester clearly in mind.

Tuchel had been at pains to warn his players of allowing thoughts to drift to the weekend, but that almost inevitably happened.

Chelsea’s third defeat in 26 matches under Tuchel proved the result of a galling west London evening then, and one where the Gunners pulled off a league double over their capital rivals.

The Blues could have taken a giant step towards sealing a top-four Premier League finish with a win over Arsenal, but instead were left to rue a string of missed opportunities.

Arsenal have had a different player aged younger than 21 score in each of their last three Premier League matches against Chelsea – Gabriel Martinelli in January 2020, Bukayo Saka in December 2020 and Emile Smith Rowe tonight.

###############