By Korede James
Mikel Merino’s first-half goal earned Arsenal a hard-fought 1-0 win over Chelsea in Sunday’s English Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium.
With the victory, the second-placed Gunners cut Liverpool’s lead at the top to 12 points in the league table, while Chelsea remain in fourth place.
Arsenal continued their dominance over the Blues as Mikel Arteta’s side are unbeaten in their last seven clashes, recording five wins and two draws.
While Arsenal returned to winning ways after back-to-back draws, the defeat ended Chelsea’s run of four straight victories.
Arsenal almost opened the scoring in the 13th minute after an appeal for a foul on Marc Cucurella was ignored but the chance was lost.
The Gunners were rewarded for their continued pressure seven minutes later as Merino looped a header into the net from Odegaard’s corner kick.
Marc Cucurella almost pulled Chelsea level eight minutes before half-time, when his shot from inside the Arsenal box slipped through goalkeeper David Raya’s hands and rolled away for a corner.
At Craven Cottage in a match that kicked off ar the same time, Super Eagles stars Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey featured for Fulham who defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.
Bassey saw 90 minutes of action while Iwobi was replaced on 63 minutes.
Goals from Rodrigo Muniz (78 minutes) and Ryan Sessegnon (88 minutes) sealed the win for the Cottagers.
Fulham moved up to the 10th spot, with Spurs staying in 13th place in the league table.
