From ESPN:
Arsenal fans can celebrate the earliest 'St Totteringham's Day' in Premier League history after north London rivals Tottenham fell to another defeat on Sunday.
St Totteringham's Day is an unofficial celebration for Arsenal fans that marks the date on which the Gunners are mathematically guaranteed to finish higher in the table than Tottenham.
Three Arsenal players scored on corner kicks today, though unfortunately one was into our own net. In Hincapie's defense, Reece's corners were extremely hard to defend. As were Rice's, and Saka's. I love the ones Saka hooks a little past the far post and close to the endline. Our guy can usually beat the defenders to this position, and a really good header (like Gabriel's on this first goal) sent across the box might be met by a Gunner head--in this case Saliba's who powered it off a defender's back and past Sanchez. Just to get that first part right is amazing skill.
1-1 at the half after Hincapie's own-goal. The second half saw Chelsea on top for the most part, although Arsenal got some good chances. We could not hold onto the ball against Chelsea's pressing defense. We pressed too, but they started theirs somewhat farther from our goal than we did from theirs. Chelsea's indiscipline again proved fatal. A foul on Saka allowed a free kick that Sanchez could only punch for a corner, Rice's great kick met Timber's head, and he nodded it down to beat the keeper from close range. Soon after that, Pedro Neto got a second yellow for taking out Martinelli who'd skipped past him. For the third time in a few minutes, referee Darren England stopped play for a foul by Chelsea when we were breaking. The crowd was somewhat mollified when the red came out. They, like I, must have expected Arsenal to close out the game easily. But the Blues outplayed us right to the end, with Raya having to reprise his heroics to prevent a Garnacho cross from going in.
It was ill-tempered, high energy, nervy football with plenty of misplaced passes but very few missed markers in open play. Well, it's Brighton next, followed by Mansfield (FA Cup) and Leverkusen (ECL). We're having more cup games than league games in the next half-dozen or so.
There's nothing like a thumping derby win to rekindle interest in football. Wolves got that today, beating Villa 2-0, and we got it Sunday when sorry Spurs were dismissed in front of their disgruntled supporters. I was on a plane to Puerto Rico during the game so had to catch up on my phone. Three points was a necessity, and the +3 goal difference might be important in a close title race. City dropped five points to Tottenham, so if we do win the league they'll have made a crucial difference.
Eze and Gyokeres got two goals apiece, which is really good news. If they're going to start firing, we can weather Saka's goal drought and Merino's injury. There was no midweek game for the first time in months, which is great. If we get Havertz back, I'll be happier.
The succession of dropped points has been dispiriting, but the reaction on the blog I follow from alleged "supporters" of Arsenal has been much worse. It's a stream of profanity-laced invective against a group of young men who were only two months ago hailed as heroes by this same gaggle of football addicts. It's embarrassingly stupid behavior. Most of the posts assert that the Gunners are perennial "bottlers" and Manchester City is now certain to win the league. And it gets worse. I can't follow these people where they're going. The second post in this blog was sage advice to myself, and I'm going to follow it by dialing back my angst and putting some distance between me and Arsenal. I may post after games if I feel like it.
Substandard all around from the Gunners, I thought. This may be looked back on as the moment we lost the title. Wolves showed plenty of fight, and their first goal was real quality, but the equalizer was a sloppy gift. With a two goal lead, it should have been over. But worst drew with first and you could see the belief draining out of the Arsenal team at the end.
We scored four times in the first half hour. There were substitutions for the second half and the Gunners took their foot of the gas, and we went through the rest of the game comfortably. The injuries are piling up again, but maybe most of them are slight. We'll need everybody. Players who got much-needed confidence boosts were Eze (two fine assists), Madueke (good goal), Martinelli (even better goal), and Jesus (best goal). Norgaard was his usual dependable self, and even got an assist to Jesus. Kepa and Setford both had a turn in goal. Salmon played at CB in the second half. A good day at the office.
