Chelsea the laughing stock of London as Arsenal fans troll Blues

In pictures: Arsenal v Chelsea

Martin Odegaard fired Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League at the double in a disturbingly easy 3-1 win against Chelsea. It was the sixth successive defeat in Frank Lampard’s reign with the match effectively over by half-time when Gabriel Jesus added a third to the Norway international’s pair in the 31st minute.

In the second period, against the run of play, young English winger Noni Madueke marked his first start since February by pulling a goal back. But with Chelsea still struggling to show anything for their owners’ £600m investment in the transfer market, Arsenal were able to hold on for the final whistle with none of their recent scares.

Remember when it was Arsenal who were the laughing stock of London? The empty seats with ‘tickets sold’ and the steady stream of aeroplanes trailing banners. Boy is the boot on the other foot right now. Not only did they completely boss a mockery of a London derby, Arsenal fans were able to taunt their Chelsea counterparts with their own chorus of “Super Frankie Lampard”.

And, never ones to let their even closer rivals off the hook, there was more delicious cruelty than usual when quizzed those away supporters as to whether they were “Tottenham in disguise”. Mikel Arteta already had Champions League football secured before kick-off and with their mauling of Chelsea here they go back to the top of the table to remind Manchester City the title race is not quite a procession yet.

The confidence was back in the perfect rebound from their own chastening defeat at the Etihad and they took advantage of the time and space they were given to exhibit the quality of football that keeps the pressure on City for another couple of weeks at least.

But what of Chelsea? Three down at half-time, most regular watchers were hard-pressed to remember when they had last turned in a worse performance. Six defeats on the trot, no wins in nine.

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Strikers with no touch, midfielders who did not seem to run and a defence incapable of shutting down space. Even when they had the ball, they seemed incapable of passing their way out of a paper bag, let alone their own penalty area and Arsenal took full advantage.

They nearly took the lead in the fourth minute when Chelsea’s half-measures meant skipper Cesar Azpilicueta’s six-yard back header fell short and Granit Xhaka nearly forced the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Instead, he turned creator, with the simple pass which Martin Odegaard converted off the underside of the bar with as much freedom as he could have wished for. Then, blow me, Chelsea let them do it again. The same player teeing up the same scorer to add a second from about a yard away from where he hit the first.

Wes Fofana was lucky not to concede a handball but no matter, Azpilicueta was playing with lead in his boots so could not prevent the high far-post cross that enabled Gabriel Jesus to force in a third after Xhaka had had his own attempt blocked. Then when Chelsea did finally get out of their own half former Gunner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s first touch was so bad the ball went out for a corner.

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It may be his last in a disastrous spell at Stamford Bridge – he had the further ignominy of being replaced by Kai Havertz at half time and only senior striker at the club or not, there had been nothing about his performance to suggest he would be even a short-term answer.

Instead, it was left to Noni Madueke to restore a single dollop of Chelsea pride, timing his run perfectly and converting Mateo Kovacic’s path. Thiago Silva’s calm keepy-uppy on the goalline had moments before prevented Arsenal from extending their lead and there were still 25 minutes left plus more than five minutes of stoppages.

But with nothing really of note to cheer on the pitch, most of their fans had started the short journey back across London long before the final whistle.

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