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Arsenal ended a seven-match winless streak in the Premier League with a thrilling London derby victory on St. Stephen’s Day over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners entered the game as outsiders having collected just two points from their last seven, but coach Mikel Arteta shuffled his package and found a winning combination by securing a 3-1 success.
Alexandre Lacazette’s penalty gave the hosts the lead and ended their eight-game league winless streak, with Granit Xhaka returning from a three-game penalty, doubling home a sublime free kick to double the advantage before the break.
Bukayo Saka secured the win by adding a third with an ill-timed cross, but Arsenal made a sweat in the final stages, Tammy Abraham threw one back before Jorginho saw a stoppage time penalty from Bernd Leno.
Arsenal were left without Gabriel Magalhaes, the Brazilian defender who will now miss the next three games after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid.
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However, his absence was not felt, as Arteta gave Emile Smith Rowe a start, his first in the league in a year.
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard was able to call both Reece James and Ben Chilwell when the England full-backs passed physical fitness tests to participate.
Arsenal have been slow at the start of games lately, but were the quickest to come out of locks here, Martinelli, who shook off an ankle bump to start, skewed an early difficult opportunity.
Xhaka made his return to Arsenal’s midfield after his red card against Burnley, but offered Chelsea their first clear scoring opportunity.
He fouled Christian Pulisic on the edge of his own box, with a resulting free throw from Mason Mount slicing through the outside of the post on his wide path.
With Chelsea pushing ahead, Arsenal managed to get in from behind when Thiago Silva fouled Saka and Hector Bellerin stormed the fumble, crossing for Smith Rowe, who failed to make forceful contact at the penalty spot.
But they would take the lead from the penalty spot after James dropped Kieran Tierney.
A VAR check supported referee Michael Oliver’s decision to mark the point and Lacazette was available to dispatch the penalty 10 minutes before half-time.
There was still time for Arteta’s men to double their lead before the break. Xhaka scored a good free kick for his first goal since July after N’Golo Kante dropped Saka.
Lampard responded at halftime by introducing Jorginho and Callum Hudson-Odoi from the bench as Mateo Kovacic and the ineffective Timo Werner led the way.
Arsenal went very deep early in the second half but caught Chelsea at half-time and scored a third, with a cross shot from Saka that left Edouard Mendy stranded.
The confidence that Arsenal have lacked for so long began to exude as Martinelli braced himself for an overhead kick that worked for Mendy.
The Brazilian then pulled another save from the Chelsea goalkeeper when Arsenal felt blood and pushed for a quarter.
Lacazette should have provided it, as Mendy gifted the ball to the striker but tried to make a shot on his French compatriot who did well to keep him out.
Mohamed Elneny thrashed a shot off the crossbar from the resulting corner before Chelsea recovered a goal through Abraham.
A Hudson-Odoi cross was brought home by the England forward with the offside flag originally ruled out, only for the VAR to call off the call.
Silva missed a good opportunity to make the final stages more interesting, with a soft late penalty from Jorginho that Leno avoided after Pablo Mari fouled Mount and Chelsea suffered a third straight loss.
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