English Premier League: Arsenal thrash London rivals Chelsea to retake lead in title race

Arsenal celebrate their fifth goal against Chelsea. Photo / Getty Images

Kai Havertz scored twice against his former team and Ben White also got a brace as Arsenal brushed aside a dismal Chelsea side 5-0 for their biggest league win over their London rivals.

The win ensures Arsenal will go into the weekend atop the Premier League standings, lifting them three points ahead of Liverpool ahead of Thursday’s (NZ time) Merseyside derby at Everton. Manchester City are four points back before they play Brighton on Friday, with another game in hand.

For Chelsea, it was another dispiriting loss after a 1-0 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup semifinals that ended any hope of finishing a disappointing season on a high note.

Chelsea’s leading scorer Cole Palmer was absent with an injury but the manner of the team’s second-half collapse will only renew questions about what progress — if any — the expensively assembled team have made in their first season under Mauricio Pochettino.

Arsenal’s previous biggest league win over Chelsea was 5-1 in 1930.

Leandro Trossard put Arsenal ahead in just the fourth minute by beating Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic at his near post from a tight angle. Petrovic made amends by single-handedly keeping his team in the game with a handful of good saves until the floodgates opened in the second half as visitors’ resistance melted away.

White swept home the second in the 52nd and Havertz added the third just five minutes later with a well-taken goal after being teed up by a perfect throughball from Martin Odegaard.

The Germany international, who made an expensive move to Arsenal from Chelsea last summer, got another one in the 65th with a shot from the middle of the area, and White added to the rout with a fortunate second goal when his attempt at a volleyed cross sailed into the net in the 70th.

Pochettino responded by bringing on centre back Thiago Silva to prevent the scoreline from getting even bigger.