Arsenal had a five-point lead at the top of the English Premier League, and was restored on March 1st when they secured a 2-1 home victory against Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in North London.
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Top Five Teams in the EPL Table
The current top five teams in the EPL list include:
1) Arsenal with 64 points
2) Man City with 59 points
3) Man United with 51 points
4) Aston Villa with 51 points
5) Liverpool with 48 points
Arsenal is now leading the list as number one, followed by Manchester City, whose five-point lead strengthened their position in the race. In the last five matches Arsenal played, they have drawn two and secured victory in three of those matches. Chelsea has lost one, drawn two, and secured victory in two.
The Match Analysis
Wiiiam Saliba, Arsenal centre back hit the net at 21’. The goal was assisted by the centre back Gabriel Magalhaes. By 45+2’ Piero Hincapie scored an own goal, resulting in a draw for the two teams.
In the second half, at 66’ Jurrien Timber, Arsenal wingback hit the net again, assisted by the defensive midfielder D. Rice to place the team one goal ahead of Chelsea. This placed them on the winning side shortly after the first half draw.
The game ended in a 2:1 victory for the Arsenal team, over the 10-man Chelsea team, making them climb to the top of the league by a 5-point gap ahead of Man City.
The three goals were scored by three corner kicks, making it their 16th corner goal recorded in this season’s English Premier League.
The wins were not effortless as Chelsea really put pressure on Arsenal’s defence.
Some Controversial Moments of The Match
Timber’s 66’ score was not accepted by Pedro Neto, as he felt the goal should have been disallowed. He had protested, and this earned him a yellow card from referee Dalen.
Three minutes later, he received another yellow card for committing foul play, and he was sent offe pitch. Neto’s dismissal summed up to Chelsea’s 7th red cards in this Season’s English Premier League.
The hope of the team’s comeback was reduced when the team was reduced to 10 men, against 11. That was also about the fourth full game they were playing 10-man because of professional fouls.
However, despite being a 10-man team, Chelsea’s right winger Delap still scored a late equaliser at 90+6’, the sixth minute of stoppage time, although it was ruled off as an offside.
The 2-0 defeat had placed them in the 6th position behind Liverpool.
Expectations From Next Matches
If Chelsea doesn’t secure victory this week, the gap between them and the top five would be heightened.
The Wednesday Match against Aston Villa is filled with so many expectations as they could either climb up the ladder or go further down.
This will reduce the gap between Arsenal, who are currently leading, and Man City, making them only two points behind Arsenal. Winning their fixture is very necessary in maintaining their point.
If Arsenal loses its next game and Man City wins, the gap shrinks by 3 points. However if both teams win their next games, the 5 points gap will remain the same.
There’s also a surprise turn of events as Manchester United cling to third position in the league due to Aston Villa’s 2:0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Clubs at the Bottom and Their Relegation Chances
With roughly 10 games remaining, the battle for the bottom is among these three teams: Wolves, Burnley, and West Ham.
Wolves are currently sitting at the bottom of the table with 13 points, followed by Burnley with 19 points. West Ham United is in 18th position with 25 points.
This is very crucial as these clubs stand the chance of being relegated to the EFL Champions League. However, with the current turn of events, there could be a dramatic change as West Ham has more prospects of escaping relegation if they win and Nottingham loses.
Also, Tottenham Hotspur is close to the bottom with just 29 points after 28 matches.
