By Al Edwards 

Now with a five-point lead over Manchester City, Arsenal are in the driver’s seat to be crowned champions of the EPL this season after today’s (March 1) 2-1 victory against their London rival, Chelsea.

William Saliba’s corner forced Piero Hincapie to mistakenly score in his own net right at the end of the first half.

Chelsea hit back from a precise corner, levelling the game. The Blues managed to hold their own for most of the second half but fell to another set piece, this time a vicious in-swinging by Declan Rice, headed in by Jurrien Timber.

Pedro Neto received a red card after he chopped down Gabriel Martinelli with his studs up while already on a yellow card. 

Alejandro Garnacho should have scored with his cross into Arsenal’s box, but for the heroics of Arsenal goalie Raya.

After the game, Chelsea’s skipper commented, “ It’s disappointing to walk away empty-handed. When it was 1-1, we had a half chance to make it 2-1. Their goalie made a good save, they got a set piece and managed to score.

’This is football now in 2026, 90 per cent of goals are probably from set pieces, and Arsenal are one of the leaders at set pieces in the world.”

Arsenal now have nine games to go and could very well claim their first title in 22 years.

Arsenal go up against Brighton on Wednesday.