Chelsea’s poor form away from home in the Premier League continued as they fell to a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
The only goal of the game came midway through the first-half as Mikel Merino headed home Martin Odegaard’s corner.
In a London derby that lacked a lot of quality, Chelsea’s best chance came when David Raya almost let Marc Cucurella’s volley through his hands and into the bottom corner.
The loss means the Blues miss the chance to create some distance between themselves and Manchester City in the race for the Champions League qualification, though they remain fourth in the Premier League table.
Here’s how Enzo Maresca’s side rated at the Emirates Stadium...
Robert Sanchez 6
Reconfirmed as Chelsea’s No1 but showed almost immediately why he had surrendered that shirt initially with some erratic kicking. Iffy under the high ball, but made a brilliant save from Merino’s volley.
Wesley Fofana 6
Brilliant, goal-saving intervention on Gabriel Martinelli. Survived a VAR review after late kick on Declan Rice and though eventually booked once, was lucky not to pick up a second somewhere along the way.
Benoit Badiashile 6
After being roasted once early on, did a good job covering against the pace of Martinelli.
Levi Colwill 6
Did well in aerial battle with Merino. Booked.
Marc Cucurella 7
Almost equalised with volley that Raya fumbled. Positioning caused Arsenal problems towards the end of the first-half.
Reece James 6
Given a clear brief to track Declan Rice’s runs. One vital bit of covering to stop Martinelli running away on the counter.
Moises Caicedo 6
Bizarrely preoccupied with leaving a bit on opponents during first-half in which his usual controlling influence went missing. Better thereafter and Chelsea improved as a result.
Jadon Sancho 4
Got nothing out of Myles Lewis-Skelly in a lifeless display.
Enzo Fernandez 5
Playing higher up the pitch in Cole Palmer’s absence, was another who charged around midfield looking for a dust-up.
Christopher Nkunku 4
Another who offered nothing to Chelsea’s attack and was tellingly replaced by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall with 15 minutes to play.
Pedro Neto 6
Chelsea’s one bright spark going forward. Booked for dissent.
Substitutes
Tyrique George (Sancho 76’) 6
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Nkunku 76’) 6
Romeo Lavia (James 82’) N/A
Tosin Adarabioyo (Badiashile 86’) N/A
Malo Gusto (Fofana 86’) N/A
Unused: Jorgensen, Bettinelli, Chalobah, Acheampong.
