Premier League leaders Arsenal dropped points again in the draw against Brentford. Chelsea are still treading water after the 1-1 draw at West Ham United.
Leaders Arsenal are poised to gamble away their Premier League lead. The “Gunners” did not get more than a 1-1 draw against Brentford on Saturday (11.02.2023) on matchday 23 in their own stadium and dropped points for the second time in a row after the 0-1 defeat against Everton the previous week lay.
Leandro Trossard’s goal (66′) broke the defense of the extremely defensive guests, the winter newcomer scored four minutes after being substituted on after a cross from Bukayo Saka. But Brentford goalgetter Ivan Toney shocked the Gunners eight minutes later, taking advantage of the disarray in the hosts’ defense from a free-kick and heading in the equaliser.
Arsenal are six points ahead of Manchester City on 51 points but have played one game in hand. City meets Aston Villa on Sunday. Next Wednesday there will be a direct duel between Arsenal and City.
Tottenham suffered a major setback in the race for a place in the Champions League. Spurs suffered a 4-1 defeat at Leicester City.
Despite buying millions, Chelsea is not moving
Chelsea are still treading water after a 1-1 draw at West Ham United. For the “Blues”, who spent more than 300 million euros on reinforcements in the winter transfer period, the gap to international places threatens to increase further, and Chelsea have only won one of seven league games since the beginning of the year.
After the third draw in a row, Chelsea remain only in the middle of the table with 31 points. Next Wednesday, coach Graham Potter’s team will be visiting BVB in the round of 16 first leg of the premier class.
Two of Chelsea’s top-class winter signings gave the Hammers the lead: striker João Félix easily converted a perfect pass from Argentina’s world champion Enzo Fernández to take the lead 1-0 (16′).
West Ham equalized with the first good opportunity: former Chelsea pro Emerson used Jarrod Bowen’s header from close range to make it 1-1 (28′).
West Ham’s second goal conceded by VAR – Chelsea lucky
As the game progressed, both clubs had numerous good opportunities in a fast-paced encounter. Chelsea showed good attacks through Mychajlo Mudryk and national player Kai Havertz, but continued weaknesses in defense. Lucky for the Potter team five minutes from time, Tomas Soucek made it 2-1 for West Ham. Declan Rice was just offside after a video review.