It had been almost two months since the last victory, on 1 November against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Mikel Arteta
could not make sense of the Arsenal game, which this Saturday had to appeal to the festive spirit of Boxing Day to get back on track in the Premier League.
Their convincing derby win against Chelsea was further rounded off with two fabulous goals, the work of
Granit Xhaka
and
Bukayo Saka
.
[Narration and statistics (3-1)]
On the day one year since his arrival on the bench at the Emirates Stadium, the Spanish coach opted for a very young team, with six changes compared to the one that had lost to Everton (2-1) and the inclusion of
Saka
,
Gabriel Martinelli
and
Emile Smith Rowe
.
Something had to improvise Arteta to redirect a team that had its worst position in the Christmas holidays since 1982.
Arsenal's momentum carried over to the scoreboard in the 35th minute, when a slight contact in the area by
Reece James
on
Kieran Tierney
was punished by
Michael Oliver
.
After the confirmation of the VAR,
Alexandre Lacazette
converted the penalty with total poise.
For the first time in eight weeks, Arsenal took the initiative in a Premier League match.
A touch of fortune
The inaccuracies of Chelsea, unable to supply balls to
Christian Pulisic
and
Tammy Abraham
, were punished just before the break with another set piece action.
Xhaka's left-hander masterfully executed a direct free from the front impossible for
Edouard Mendy
.
Frank Lampard
tried to change the trend with two changes after the break, bringing in
Jorginho
and
Callum Hudson-Odoi
for
Mateo Kovacic
and
Timo Werner
.
However, the locals would strike again with another beautifully made goal, although with a touch of fortune.
And it is that the parable of Saka from the right profile seemed to look more for a finisher than the net.
The suffering did not end there for Mendy, who still had to be used to the full before an approach from Martinelli.
In addition,
Mohamed Elneny
crashed a powerful shot against the crossbar, just before Abraham made up the loss in an action that also had to be validated by the VAR.
Penalty saved by Leno
The only moment of anxiety came in the 90th minute, when
Pabo Marí
awkwardly brought down
Mason Mount
in the area
.
Right there the figure of
Bernd Leno appeared
, capable of guessing the intention of a specialist from 11 meters like Jorginho.
The victory offers a respite to Arteta, who now has a six-point margin over the relegation places, marked by Fulham, author of four consecutive draws.
A somewhat more encouraging end of 2020 for Gunners fans, wounded in pride by the recent statements of
Sam Allardyce
, West Brom's new coach, who has included Arsenal among the candidates to fight for permanence.
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