Arsenal maintain slim title hopes with a close 1-0 win over Chelsea | OneFootball

Arsenal secured an important 1-0 victory over Chelsea this afternoon, keeping themselves within reach of Liverpool in the Premier League table.

With Liverpool 15 points ahead, Arsenal knew only a win would suffice, and they started strongly.

They had endured some difficult league results in recent games, but improvement was necessary in this match, and Declan Rice had an early opportunity to open the scoring.

He did not, but the Gunners continued to push for the breakthrough and were eventually rewarded through Mikel Merino.

The Spaniard has led Arsenal’s attack for some time now and finally found the net again in the league after a brief goal drought.

Top-four-chasing Chelsea then looked to respond, but they were limited to passing the ball around far from Arsenal’s goal.

The Blues enjoyed plenty of possession, but Arsenal used the ball more effectively, launching swift attacks whenever they regained it.

This demonstrated the mentality of a team that knew it could not afford to fall further behind Liverpool in the title race.

The Gunners survived some scares before the break but began the second half looking the more likely to score next.

Merino could have doubled his tally if not for Robert Sánchez’s alert goalkeeping, and Arsenal continued to assert themselves as the stronger side in the contest.

Chelsea pushed further in search of an equaliser late on, but as had been the case for much of the match, they struggled to break into Arsenal’s box, with the Gunners holding firm to secure a vital win.