Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea

LONDON — Goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny sealed Arsenal’s needed victory over rivals Chelsea F.C. this Saturday at the Emirates Stadium. This was the second face-off between the London based rivals this season, where Chelsea defeated Arsenal 3-2 in August.

The first goal of the match came early in the 14th minute. After a cross from Gunner’s defender Hector Bellerin, who sent the ball ten yards out of the post. French Forward Lacazette secured the ball from the right, spun around Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso, and fired the ball into the top right corner past Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Although Chelsea maintained possession over Arsenal for the majority of the match, Arsenal was able to pull through with a second goal right before the first half ended at the 39th minute. A free-kick from midfielder Lucas Torreira meets defender Sokratis, who crosses the ball with the outside of his boot to Koscielny. He then attempts to head the ball into the net, but the ball bounces off his shoulder into the top right corner.

The Gunners looked to be the better team throughout the first half, which followed into the second half as keeper Bernd Leno maintained a clean sheet. Chelsea had their moments but was not able to keep the momentum up to finish any shots.

The only downside of the night for Arsenal came in the 72nd minute when defender Hector Bellerin was subbed off for midfielder Mohamed Elneny. Despite no contact, Bellerin went down after chasing the ball and grabbed his left leg. He was stretchered off with the injury looking to be serious for him.

Now that Arsenal has secured their third win in the last five matches, they look to edge out rivals Chelsea and Manchester United from moving up the table. They aim to stay in the top four, and hopefully, earn a spot for the Champions League next season.