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Arsenal’s young stars shone the brightest in their 3-1 win over Chelsea for a much-needed Premier League victory.
Despite recent poor form, Mikel Arteta’s team came out of blocks faster than the Blues and were rewarded for their efforts when Alexandre Lacazette converted from the penalty spot after Reece James’ foul on Kieran Tierney. Midfielder Granit Xhaka doubled Arsenal’s lead just before the break with a sumptuous free kick to the top corner that Edouard Mendy could do nothing about.
Bukayo Saka’s cross shot in the second half gave Arsenal a three-goal lead and left Frank Lampard and his team long-legged and clueless at the Emirates ahead of time. Tammy Abraham was later comforted before Bernd Leno saved a Jorginho penalty to stop a possible comeback.
Here, Sportsmail rates Arsenal and Chelsea’s performances in their Boxing Day battle.
Arsenal
Bernd Leno – 7
A surprisingly quiet 90 minutes for the German goalkeeper, until his brilliant penalty save.
Hector Bellerin – 7
Called to initial training and also as a skipper. Set the tone for Arsenal by attacking as much as possible from your right-back position
Pablo Mari – 6
Heavy passes didn’t boost confidence in his first league start to the season. Better in the air and keep Abraham out for most of the game.
Rob Holding – 6
It is not one of their most accomplished performances with some heavy touches and poor distribution, but a couple of exceptional blocks.
Kieran Tierney – 8
One of the few reliable Arsenal players returned to playing at his level and his career won the Arsenal penalty.
Mohamed Elneny – 6
A solid, characteristic and hard-working demonstration of the Egyptian midfielder.
Granit Xhaka – 6
Still unable to tackle, not ideal for a center midfielder, but with plenty of energy on his return from a penalty and a goal to savor.
Bukayo Saka – 7
One of Arsenal’s brightest prospects, possibly also from England, and another game and goal to enhance his reputation.
Emile Smith-Rowe – 7
He’s comfortable on the ball in his first Premier League start to the season, but missed a great scoring opportunity.
Martinelli – 8
Animated on the left side of the attack. Mishit a great opportunity in the first minute but a constant threat to the Chelsea defense.
Alexandre Lacazette – 6
He worked hard to lead the attack and took his penalty with a quality shot.
Subs
Pepe (by Martinelli 74) 6, Willock (by Smith Rowe 65) 7, Mustafi (by Lacazette 90)
Unused subs: Runarsson, Ceballos, Aubameyang, Maitland-Niles, Cedric, Willock, Nketiah.
Mikel Arteta – 7
A rare night of pleasure in which his tactics and selections paid off.
Chelsea
Edouard Mendy – 5
The first touch of the ball was to get the ball out of the net, after a penalty, he couldn’t have done much to stop the next two goals either.
Reece James – 5
He had trouble coping with Martinelli’s pace early on and gave up the pen when he was beaten by Tierney. Better to move on.
Kurt Zouma – 6
Solid at the heart of the Chelsea defense.
Thiago Silva – 6
It is not surprising that the Brazilian star is admired around the world. He made the game look so easy, aside from when Saka beat him to the beat.
Ben Chilwell – 6
He defied injury concern to have a decent middle game at left back on a day when little escaped him.
N’Golo Kante – 6
He was still a one-man human wall, but Chelsea needed more of him.
Mateo Kovacic –
A performance in the first half to prove he was worthy of his selection ahead of Jorginho, so a surprise when he was replaced by him at halftime!
Mason assembly – 6
He started well and hit a good free kick against a post. He faded like his teammates only to produce a strong late finish.
Christian Pulisic-6
Dangerous when he risked running at Arsenal with the ball but not at his best.
Timo Werner – 5
A few nice touches, but not enough to keep him from being taken out at half time.
Tammy Abraham – 6
He had a lot to prove by keeping former Arsenal striker Oli Giroud out of his former club and will be concerned about keeping his place for the next game on Monday despite his goal.
Frank Lampard – 5
Again mocked by Mikel Arteta.
Subs
Jorginho (on for Kovacic 45) 5, Hudson-Odoi (on for Werner 45) 5, Havertz (on for Kante 74) 6
Unused subs: Arrizabalaga, Rudiger, Jorginho, Giroud, Gilmour, Azpilicueta, Emerson Palmieri.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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