Arsenal survived a nervy finish at Stamford Bridge to beat Chelsea and climb five points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
The Gunners struck twice from corners — William Saliba’s opener and Jurrien Timber’s second-half winner — to match the all-time Premier League record for set-piece goals in a season.
Chelsea briefly levelled when Piero Hincapie turned into his own net before half-time, but Pedro Neto’s dismissal for a second booking on Gabriel Martinelli tilted the contest in Arsenal’s favour.
The closing stages belonged to David Raya, who kept Arsenal in front with a string of crucial stops.
Most dramatic was his injury-time reflex save from Alejandro Garnacho’s curling cross, a moment that had manager Mikel Arteta holding his breath.
Arteta later reflected: “I got the right angle and my heart almost stopped, but David’s hand was there to bring it back to life.”
He added: “He is a keeper that knows how to maintain his focus and decide a football match when you need it because sometimes he doesn’t participate at all, and then in one action, you have to be there, and that’s very, very difficult to do.”
Set-pieces once again proved decisive for Arsenal, who moved level with Oldham (1992-93), West Brom (2016-17) and their own 2023-24 team on 16 goals from dead-ball situations this campaign.
Arteta, though, stressed nuance in that strength: “We haven’t scored set-pieces for a few weeks now, but we scored so many in open play.
“Today was an option to score from this kind of situation. We’ve done it so well, and we conceded (from a set-piece) as well.”
For a title race this tight, those fine margins Raya’s glove, Timber’s finish, Neto’s red could define the run-in.
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