Merino strike proves the difference as strikerless Arsenal sink Chelsea

Mikel Arteta had promised that Arsenal would not give up on their title dream easily and, although they remain 12 points behind the champions-elect Liverpool after one of the most comfortable 1-0 victories you will see, there remains hope in north London.

Mikel Merino’s first-half goal - his first since 15 February in the league and Arsenal’s 11th of the season from a corner but first since New Year’s Day – proved enough to see off a toothless Chelsea side who looked badly short of inspiration without their talisman Cole Palmer to secure a first win in four league matches.

It was the seventh successive away game in the Premier League that Enzo Maresca’s side have failed to record a victory and, with the chasing pack breathing down their neck in the race for the top five, these are worrying times for the Italian. Having established himself as first-choice goalkeeper again following some high-profile errors earlier in the campaign, Robert Sánchez endured another afternoon he will want to forget as Chelsea never looked like recovering from going behind.

Before the game, Maresca jokingly dismissed rumours that Palmer was missing through illness and confirmed that he had sustained an injury in a light training session on Saturday that looks likely to rule him out of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Latvia and Albania. “He’s not in the toilet for sure,” the Chelsea manager said. “After the international break we think he can be back with us.”

Palmer was also absent when Chelsea endured a record 5-0 thrashing under Mauricio Pochettino 11 months ago and there were times during the first half when it looked like there could be a similar scoreline had it not been for Arsenal’s profligacy.

Maresca opted for Enzo Fernández to fill the No 10 role and again started Reece James in central midfield despite Thomas Tuchel insisting last week that his best position is at full-back. Arsenal have struggled to recapture their blistering Premier League form of last spring with so many attacking players still missing and it was a surprise to see Ethan Nwaneri – perhaps the best finisher available to Arteta – left on the bench. The result was a number of wasted opportunities inside the opening 20 minutes when Chelsea could have easily found themselves three goals down, thanks in part to Sánchez.

Gabriel Martinelli could not make the most of the opportunity that was gifted to him by the Chelsea goalkeeper before Marc Cucurella was perhaps fortunate not to concede a penalty when the ball appeared to strike his arm while under pressure from Jurrien Timber. Declan Rice eventually fired over after a clearance had cannoned into his path via James’s face.

It was only a matter of time until Arsenal found a way through and Sánchez was again at fault. Merino’s deft header from a corner caught him flat footed at his near post and looped into the far corner of the unguarded net.

Wesley Fofana could easily have been sent off when he followed through with a tackle on Rice and stood on him, although VAR ruled that there had not been not sufficient force to warrant a red card.

Chelsea had failed to even muster a single touch in Arsenal’s penalty area by that stage as their midfield chased shadows. They should have found themselves further behind had Martinelli not blazed over after excellent work from Martin Ødegaard. But David Raya had a momentary lapse of concentration and almost spilled Cucurella’s tame volley into his own net in Chelsea’s first significant attack seven minutes before half-time.

That finally seemed to wake the visitors up and Maresca would have been more encouraged by his team’s start to the second half as they began to frustrate Arsenal and create the occasional opening. A brilliant reaction save from Sánchez to deny Merino his second of the afternoon from a force volley at the back post was the culmination of a scrappy period of play that saw two players from each side go into the referee Chris Kavanagh’s book.

Maresca threw on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Tyrique George late on to replace the ineffective Christopher Nkunku and Jadon Sancho. But neither side really came close to scoring as the game petered out as a contest. At this stage of the season, all that really matters is the result and Arsenal can head into the international break satisfied that they still have plenty to play for. Maresca can only hope Chelsea will rediscover their mojo before it is too late.