Arsenal grind out 2-1 win over Chelsea, with all goals stemming from corners
Saliba’s deflected header opened the scoring before Hincapie’s own goal levelled before half-time
Timber’s 66th-minute header from Rice’s pinpoint corner proved decisive
Neto sent off minutes after dissent booking, leaving Chelsea to chase the game with 10 men
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea, English Premier League: Jurrien Timber Header Restores Five‑Point Lead For Gunners
Arsenal vs Chelsea, English Premier League 2025-26: Arsenal restored their five-point cushion at the Premier League summit with a 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea, as all three goals came from corners and Jurrien Timber’s header sealed another statement result
Summary
Arsenal restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League as they ground out a 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea.
Jurrien Timber's 66th-minute header proved decisive at Emirates Stadium, where all three goals came from corners.
Arsenal went ahead in the 21st minute, with Gabriel Magalhaes meeting Bukayo Saka's corner to set up his fellow centre-back William Saliba, whose header found the net via a deflection from Mamadou Sarr.
Chelsea caused Arsenal problems of their own from corners, though, and after David Raya had made a superb save to deny Jorrel Hato – who was been held by Declan Rice – Piero Hincapie scored an own goal to restore parity on the stroke of half-time.
Joao Pedro saw a penalty appeal turned down and then had a header saved on the line, but Arsenal's set-piece proficiency came to the fore again when Rice dropped an inch-perfect delivery onto Timber, with Robert Sanchez in no man's land.
Pedro Neto was booked for dissent in the aftermath of Timber's goal, and he saw red less than three minutes later when he scythed down Gabriel Martinelli.
Raya had to come up big late on, parrying wide Alejandro Garnacho's cross, and though Liam Delap had the ball in the net deep in stoppage time, Joao Pedro had drifted offside in the build-up.
Data Debrief: Corner records tumble
It is no secret that Arsenal are the best team in Europe from set-pieces, and this game was all about dead-ball situations.
Arsenal's 16 goals from corners in the Premier League this season is the joint-most by any side in a single campaign, alongside Oldham in 1992-93, West Brom in 2016-17, and the Gunners themselves in 2023-24.
Mikel Arteta's team have now scored a match-winning goal from a corner in nine Premier League games this term, which is the outright most by a team in a single campaign (overtaking Manchester United’s eight in 2012-13).
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In fact, there have now been more goals scored from corners in the Premier League this season (138 in 281 games) than in the whole of last term (135 in 380 games).
With set-pieces playing such a key role, it is no surprise to see a relatively low expected goals tally for this contest, with Arsenal's 1.12 xG just edging out Chelsea's 1.05.
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