Today (March 16) was a battle of the London giants with both Arsenal and Chelsea expected to make it to the Champions League at the end of this campaign.

This was yet another game where Jamaican Raheem Sterling was made to sit out.  He is now witnessing his career winding down and he must do something about it. He may have better fortune somewhere at one of the top European clubs.

Arsenal of late seem to be running out of steam, while Chelsea under its manager Enzo Maresca have become too predictable.

Chelsea’s away form this season has been awful and so Arsenal was fancied today. Last time they met here, Arsenal battered Chelsea 5-0. 

Cole Palmer was absent today after picking up a knock in training. He was missed today.

Arsenal should have scored first as early as the 12th minute when a comedy of errors should have seen Declan Rice put the ball in the net. 

In the 20th minute, Olegaard took a great corner, which Mikel Merino acrobatically flicked past Sanchez to open Arsenal’s account. This got the 60,311-strong crowd’s attention.

Merino could have scored again in the second half, but his vicious volley was blocked by an alert Sanchez.

In his post-match interview, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “ I was very happy today, obviously with the result. I loved the attitude of the team from the beginning, the way we approached it, how aggressive we were with the ball. We scored and had a lot of chances that we didn’t put away. We did a lot of the things defensively so well, that allowed us to attack open spaces. It was unbelievable how we were able to track back today. We didn’t concede apart from that save from David, I would say. That’s a big credit to the team because, in my opinion, they are the best attacking team in the league, and the stats bear that out.

“We are capable of competing consistently with really high standards. We can take on any kind of opposition. If we do those things, we’ll get rewarded.”