Arsenal won their set-piece battle with 10-man Chelsea as Jurrien Timber sealed the Premier League leaders’ crucial 2-1 victory over their London rivals.
Mikel Arteta’s side scored twice from corners and also conceded from the same route in a Sunday game that underlined the growing importance of set pieces in the Premier League.
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William Saliba’s first goal since December 2024 put Arsenal ahead in the first half at the Emirates Stadium.
An own goal from Piero Hincapie brought Chelsea level after a deadly corner from Reece James just before half-time.
But Timber earned three invaluable points for Arsenal with his second-half header before Chelsea winger Pedro Neto was sent off for a second booking.
The Gunners’ second consecutive league win restored their five-point lead over second-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand and had closed the gap with a 1-0 win at Leeds on Saturday.
After enduring harsh criticism for their mentality during a recent wobble that breathed new life into the title race, Arsenal have gotten back on track just in time, following last weekend’s 4-1 rout of Tottenham with a much more tense win.
Arsenal travel to Brighton on Wednesday with nine games remaining in their bid to win their first English title since 2004.
The Gunners, qualified for the League Cup final, Champions League round of 16 and FA Cup fifth round, have just one top-flight match left against teams currently in the top six – a potentially decisive trip to Manchester City on April 18.
Chelsea’s third straight game without a win was a blow to their bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
They dropped to sixth place after losing to Arsenal for the third time in Liam Rosenior’s brief reign.
Robert Sanchez almost gave Arsenal an early goal when the Chelsea goalkeeper stumbled under pressure from Viktor Gyokeres, but managed a late clearance to avoid the danger.
When Sánchez gave the ball away with another nervous clearance, Rosenior held his head in frustration.
Arteta took advantage of Chelsea’s weakness in defense to take the lead with one of coach Nicolas Jover’s signature routines in the 21st minute.
Gabriel Magalhaes rose above Reece James and Joao Pedro to head Bukayo Saka’s corner into the six-yard box, where Saliba’s header deflected off Chelsea’s Mamadou Sarr.
Chelsea have conceded eight goals from set pieces in Rosenior’s first 13 games and four of them have come against Arsenal.
But the ‘bleus’ took revenge on the stroke of half-time.
Arsenal were warned when James’ corner hit Declan Rice’s shoulder, forcing David Raya into a superb save.
But they didn’t learn their lesson and from the resulting corner, Hincapie headed James’ inside shot into his own goal.
Arsenal remained vulnerable from James’ corners and Joao Pedro should have done better than head straight for Raya before nodding wide at another of the Chelsea captain’s provocative set-pieces.
Those misses proved costly for Chelsea, as Arsenal again showed their own set-piece prowess in the 66th minute.
Timber made a perfectly timed run to finish off a Rice corner, but furious calls from Chelsea for a foul on Sanchez failed to disallow the goal.
It was the 16th league goal scored from a corner by the Gunners this season and their jubilant fans celebrated by chanting “set-piece again, ole, ole”.
Neto, booked for protesting after Timber’s goal, rushed out his frustration on Gabriel Martinelli, bringing down the Arsenal winger to earn his sending off in the 70th minute.
Arsenal still needed a brilliant save from Raya in stoppage time to deny Alejandro Garnacho a goal before they could celebrate.
Timber said Arsenal should “enjoy” the exciting title race.
“We have to enjoy it. It’s a privilege to be here with my teammates fighting for this title. It’s a beautiful place,” he said.
“There are nine games left, but we have to take it game by game. Hopefully, there will be something beautiful at the end.”
James, for his part, admitted that Chelsea are receiving too many red cards for poor discipline.
“We have spoken. It has come up several times. Each time, it is someone different. We need to review it internally,” said the Chelsea captain.
“Of course, it is a problem. We are playing in the toughest league in the world. 11 against 11 (players) is difficult. 10 against 11 is even more difficult, no matter who you play against.”
Earlier on Sunday, Manchester United moved up to third place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.
Benjamin Sesko’s seventh goal in eight games sealed the victory at Old Trafford that moved United above Aston Villa on goal difference.
“It feels like a great result,” said United captain Bruno Fernandes, who scored from the penalty spot.
At the other end of the table, Tottenham’s winless run extended to 10 games after a 2-1 defeat to Fulham, leaving them mired in a fight to avoid relegation.
Nottingham Forest also failed to move further away from the relegation zone after a 2-1 defeat at Brighton.
