Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea: Kai Havertz nets brace as Gunners go three points clear at top of Premier League

Arsenal moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 5-0 hammering of Chelsea, as Kai Havertz and Ben White both scored twice.

The Blues were without star man Cole Palmer due to illness for the London derby, and he had little to enjoy watching on from home as the Gunners ran riot to keep themselves firmly in the title race.

Liverpool will have the chance to move level on points with Arsenal when they face Everton on Wednesday, while the Gunners’ four-point advantage over Manchester City will come under pressure in the coming days, with Pep Guardiola’s side having two games in hand.

Leandro Trossard opened the scoring inside five minutes, squeezing a low finish in at the near post after a driving run from Declan Rice, and it could well have been more in an open first-half.

Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz went close and Trossard was denied a second by a superb Djordje Petrovic save, as Chelsea looked incredibly vulnerable at the back. The Blues did have moments of promise in attack themselves, with Enzo Fernandez firing just wide and Nicolas Jackson’s deflected cut-back bouncing off the post.

It remained in the balance at half-time but the Gunners blew their London rivals away in the second-half. White made it two from close-range, with Chelsea strangely unaware to the danger of a short corner, before Havertz struck against his former club, finishing well under pressure after a sensational pass from Martin Odegaard.

The German had his second midway through the second period, his low strike beating Petrovic off the inside of the post, and there was more misery to come for the visitors. Odegaard scooped a lovely ball over the top and White, seemingly attempting to square it across the face of goal, produced a perfect volley into the far corner.