Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League following their 3-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium as Frank Lampard’s side slumped to a sixth consecutive defeat.
After last week’s 4-1 loss at Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s squad is no longer in first place.
The Gunners finally got their first win in five games, a sign that they intend to make City fight for the title.
At halftime, the home team at the Emirates Stadium led 3-0 thanks to goals from Odegaard (2) and Gabriel Jesus.
Chelsea’s terrible performance was not saved by Noni Madueke’s second-half goal.
Arsenal are two points ahead of City, and while Pep Guardiola’s team is still the favourite to win the title, the pressure from north London has been felt.
If City win their home game against West Ham on Wednesday, the first of their two games in hand over Arsenal, they will regain first place.
“The first 60 minutes, I thought we played really well. That was everything I want to see from our team,” Arteta said.
“Speed, quality, movement, two beautiful goals, we connected with our crowd and created an incredible atmosphere.
“We wanted to earn the right to be top of the league. We are happy to be there.”
As a result of City’s victory at Fulham on Sunday, Arsenal dropped to second place after 10 weeks at the top.
Arsenal have been written off as title race chokers after they blew a two-goal lead twice in as many games and then drew three straight.
This week, however, Arteta reiterated that they could still win the championship, and their performance reflected that.
Arsenal needed a win to get back on track before Sunday’s difficult trip to Newcastle, and troubled Chelsea provided the perfect opportunity.
Since Frank Lampard took over as caretaker manager after Graham Potter was fired, the Blues are 0-6-0.
Chelsea is currently in last place after a winless run of nine games across all competitions. If this continues, the club will finish outside the top half of the league for the first time since 1996.
“We were too nice to play against in all aspects in the first half. Not good enough,” Lampard said.
“It’s tough because you want to win games, but it’s our job, we’ll work on it.”
