So much for The Choke. Resurgent Arsenal humiliated Chelsea in a 5-0 rout, writes OLIVER HOLT, as the Blues look like half a team without Cole Palmer

So much for The Choke. So much for the idea that Arsenal are somehow preternaturally prone to losing their cool in the white heat of a title race. So much for the idea that we might as well have handed the Premier League trophy to Manchester City.

Arsenal are not choking. They reappear. They have overcome their home defeat to Aston Villa and their Champions League elimination and are playing like kings again. They see the finish line and run towards it.

They didn’t just beat Chelsea last night. They humiliated them. It’s certainly not a particularly high bar this season, but Arsenal returned to their best in a 5-0 rout in which Martin Odegaard was incredibly brilliant and Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka weren’t far behind.

Chelsea were terrible. Even when they played passably in the first half, their finishing was comically poor. Without Cole Palmer, they looked like half a team. They had gone eight league matches without defeat before this match, but their renaissance, if it ever was, was brought to a simmering halt in north London.

But it was Arsenal. The victory took them three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table and four clear of City, although City have two games in hand and are still favorites to win their fourth title in a row.

Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table with a crushing victory over their London rivals.

The home fans were in full voice as they watched their team send a message in the title race

Mikel Arteta orchestrated Arsenal’s biggest win against Chelsea on Tuesday night

However, the way Arsenal are playing, the way this win, the fact that they have the points on the board, is proof that they are not going to disappear this season without an almighty fight. If City, or Liverpool, want to win, they will have to do it the hard way.

Many thought the odds were even more in Arsenal’s favor when the teamsheets were released an hour before kick-off. They showed, as had been widely reported, that Palmer was absent due to illness. Chelsea began to be known as “Cole Palmer FC” due to their excellence. It was a significant loss.

Palmer has been Chelsea’s standout player this season following his move from Manchester City last summer. There were times when he looked above his teammates. It’s gotten to the point where you’d pay the price of admission just to see him play.

Whether it’s the shoulder drop that fooled Rodri in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against City or a brilliant flash of creativity, there’s always something to admire and that’s why his absence was the main topic of pre-match discussion. “No Palmer” was all the rage on X.

If Chelsea feared being without Palmer, their fears appeared to have been justified within the first five minutes. Arsenal launched their first proper attack, Declan Rice advanced down the inside left channel and slipped the ball to Leandro Trossard. Trossard’s fierce strike went through Djordje Petrovic’s legs and into the net.

Bukayo Saka looked lively and eager again after his recent dive and five minutes later Arsenal should have been further ahead. Typical quick thinking from Martin Odegaard, Arsenal’s creative pivot, released Kai Havertz in the Chelsea box. Havertz had time and space to shoot, but his best option was to hand the ball to Rice for a tap-in.

Havertz hesitated a little too long about his choice. By the time he passed to Rice, Chelsea were aware of the danger and the ball was intercepted. On the touchline, Arteta held his head in his hands in disbelief.

Leandro Trossard opened the scoring at the Emirates with his 10th Premier League goal of the season

Axel Disasi (right) came closest to equalizing in the first half for the visitors

Ben White (middle) produced a calm finish to double the home side’s advantage in the 52nd minute.

Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard produced a virtuoso performance in the center of midfield

Nicolas Jackson, who stood out only for his profligacy against City at Wembley, was lucky to escape a red card with a stud challenge that buckled Takehiro Tomiyasu’s ankle, but halfway through At halftime, Chelsea were starting to gain a foothold in the match. game.

Axel Disasi pounced on a Benoit Badiashile throw-in but the ball was just too far in front of him and then, when Jackson escaped down the left, his cross was inadvertently deflected past David Raya by Gabriel and the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when he bounced to safety on the outside of the post.

Opportunities began to present themselves quickly. Disasi almost deflected a Trossard shot past Petrovic from close range, but the ball bounced off the goalkeeper’s chest, Havertz saw a low shot saved by the Serbian goalkeeper and, on the other side, Enzo Fernandez side-footed from the edge of the box after Marc Cucurella’s piledriver had shot past Ben White.

The game swung easily from one end to the other as the two midfielders battled for control. It was inevitable that a decent chance would fall to Jackson before half-time and just as inevitable that he would miss it.

It happened two minutes before the break when Conor Gallagher curled in a superb cross near the touchline. Jackson stepped in front of his man from six yards out, but instead of heading the ball, he inexplicably put his hand in front of his face and the ball hit a combination of hand and face and fell limply to the ground. “You have to be braver,” an exasperated Ally McCoist said on TNT Sports.

Arsenal threatened just after the break. Rice robbed Gallagher in Chelsea’s half, then ran onto a return pass from Odegaard. Rice touched the ball and then fired his shot towards goal, but Petrovic came down smartly to his right to push it away.

It was only a momentary respite for Pochettino’s side. Chelsea miserably failed to deal with a narrow Arsenal corner, allowing Odegaard acres of space to work his magic at leisure. Rice fired a shot toward goal from the edge of the box. It was blocked but the ricochet fell to White, who brought it home with aplomb with his weaker left foot.

Odegaard – who else – was the passer again ten minutes after the break as Arsenal put the game out of reach. His searching ball from deep in his own half freed Havertz for a rush on goal with Cucurella. Havertz held off Cucurella well and fired his shot expertly over Petrovic and into the roof of the net.

Havertz scored his second with a precise finish off the post, taking his league tally to 11.

White scored a fortuitous fifth and a brilliant pass from Odegaard (left) to the delight of the home support at the Emirates.

Mauricio Pochettino made four changes to the Chelsea side which suffered a 1-0 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup.

The Blues remain ninth in the standings after seeing their hopes of European qualification shaken

Two goals in five minutes saw Arteta’s side win the match. They no longer needed poor Jackson’s help but he gave it to them anyway. When good work from Noni Madueke freed him at the edge of the box, Jackson rounded his man superbly and then, with the goal at his mercy, slipped his shot very precisely into the side net.

The game turned into a rout midway through the half when Saka came in from the right and slipped the ball to Havertz from 15 yards out. Havertz touched the ball and fired his shot low and to the left of Petrovic where it bounced off the foot of the post and rolled in.

Arsenal scored five points after 70 minutes when Odegaard played a ball forward for White and White casually flicked it to Petrovic. Perhaps it was intended as a cross, but at this point it no longer mattered. The rout had become a humiliation.