Arsenal lifts curse, Chelsea still upset

Fourth in the Championship, Arsenal broke the curse of Goodison Park, Everton’s stadium where they had not won since 2017, while Arsene Wenger was still in charge.

“There haven’t been victories here for a long time. We played a good match and didn’t miss anything. We dominated the match, creating many chances. The score probably should have been higher,” Mikel Arteta, the coach who arrived in 2019, told the BBC.

Thanks to this success, achieved through patience, his team moves forward more calmly into the next two summit meetings: Wednesday against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League and then next Sunday against Tottenham in the Premier League.

It promises a dizzying shock against Spurs, second with thirteen points, the same as Arsenal and Liverpool, third after five days. Manchester City is ahead of the top three with two more points.

Arsenal escaped on Sunday thanks to a goal from Leandro Trossard (69th), the Belgian left winger who came on in the first period after defender Gabriel Martinelli was injured.

The 22-year-old Brazilian, apparently suffering from a muscle injury, was forced to give up his place after twenty-four minutes. It’s a big downside to the evening for Arteta, who is already forced to cope without Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey, two other potential starters also in the hospital.

Whistles and regrets about Chelsea

Five days later, Chelsea find themselves in fourteenth place, close to the end of last season (12th) but far from their ambitions and the millions invested this summer.

However, the Blues were short on ammunition at the Vitality Stadium and were without their prized midfield recruits, Moises Caicedo (knee) and Romeo Lavia (ankle), as well as injured senior players such as Reece James, Benoit Badiachile and Christopher Nkunku.

Their attack failed despite fourteen shots, including two on the posts (Nicholas Jackson and Raheem Sterling), a failure that had already been seen in their previous match, when they lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

And his defense was on the verge of breaking down after Dominic Solanke’s shot was saved with the tip of his foot by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the 80th minute.

Chelsea find themselves in fourteenth place with five points, between Manchester United (13th, 6 points) and Bournemouth (15th, 3 points), with their only win coming against promoted Luton. .

“I can’t say I’m happy, but it was a very competitive match. I think we deserve better, we deserve to win,” said Mauricio Pochettino, who arrived on the bench at the end of May to right a drifting ship, trying to be positive.

“Twelve injured today and only three starters who have been with us for the last two weeks (during the international break, editor’s note), I think I just have to say the team have put in a really good effort,” he said on Sky . Kinds of sports.

Hosts Aston Villa the following weekend, the Londoners were booed at the end of the match by their fans gathered in the visitors’ park. “They want us to win every match because we are Chelsea, we are ambitious,” responded French defender Axel Disasi, not offended by the TV presenter’s microphone.