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

So much for The Choke. So much for the idea that Arsenal are somehow preternaturally inclined to lose their nerve 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 already.

Arsenal are not suffocating. They rise again. They have come to terms with the home defeat against Aston Villa and the elimination from the Champions League and now they are playing like kings again. They see the finish line and sprint towards it.

They didn’t just beat Chelsea. They humiliated them. Admittedly, that’s not a particularly high standard this season, but Arsenal looked back to their very best in a 5-0 defeat, in which Martin Odegaard was breathtakingly brilliant and Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka weren’t far behind.

Chelsea was terrible. Even when they played decently in the first half, their finishing was comically poor. Without Cole Palmer, they looked like half a team. They had gone eight league games without defeat before this match, but their revival, if it ever was, was brought to a shuddering halt in North London.

However, this was about Arsenal. The win moved them three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table and four points clear of City, although City have two games in hand and remain favorites to win their fourth title in a row.

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

Many felt the odds were stacked even further in Arsenal’s favor when the team sheets were released an hour before kick-off. They showed, as was widely followed, that Palmer was absent due to illness. Chelsea has become known as ‘Cole Palmer FC’ for its excellence. It was a significant loss.

Palmer has been Chelsea’s best player this season following his move from Manchester City last summer. There have been times when he has looked higher than 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 drop off the shoulder that fooled Rodri in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against City or a brilliant flash of creativity, there’s always something to admire, which is why his absence was the main talking point ahead of to the match. ‘No Palmer’ was trending on X.

Although Chelsea feared how they would fare without Palmer, their fears seemed justified within the first five minutes. Arsenal launched their first real attack, Declan Rice driving forward down the left channel and sliding the ball to Leandro Trossard. Trossard’s fierce attack shot straight through Djordje Petrovic’s legs and into the net.

Bukayo Saka looked sharp and eager again after his recent substitute and five minutes later Arsenal should have been further ahead. Some typically quick thinking from Arsenal’s creative fulcrum Martin Odegaard freed Kai Havertz in the Chelsea box. Havertz had time and space to shoot, but his best option was to direct the ball to Rice for a tap-in.

Havertz hesitated a little too long about his choice. By the time he went 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.

Nicolas Jackson, distinguished only by his profligacy against City at Wembley, was lucky to escape a red card with a studs-up challenge that buckled Takehiro Tomiyasu’s ankle, but Chelsea started to find their footing midway through half-time to get in the competition. game.

Axel Disasi threw himself after a strike from Benoit Badiashile, but the ball was just too far for him and when Jackson broke loose on the left, his cross was inadvertently deflected past David Raya by Gabriel and the home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when it went through bounced off the outside of the post to safety.

The opportunities started coming thick and fast. Disasi almost managed to deflect Trossard’s shot past Petrovic from close range, but the ball bounced back on the goalkeeper’s chest. Havertz saw a low shot saved by the Serbian keeper and at the other end Enzo Fernandez went sideways wide on the edge of the penalty area. Marc Cucurella’s piledriver had blasted Ben White.

The play switched easily from one side to the other as both midfields struggled to gain control. It was inevitable that Jackson would have a decent chance before half-time, and equally inevitable that he would miss it.

It came two minutes before the break when Conor Gallagher curled in a brilliant cross from close to the byline. Jackson got six yards in front of his man, 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 told TNT Sports.

Arsenal threatened immediately after the break. Rice robbed Gallagher in the Chelsea half and then ran through onto an Odegaard return pass. Rice took a touch and then aimed his shot towards goal, but Petrovic moved smartly to the right to push it away.

It was only a temporary reprieve for Pochettino’s side. Chelsea failed miserably to deal with Arsenal’s short corner, allowing Odegaard to work his magic at leisure. Rice shot towards goal from the edge of the penalty area. It was blocked, but the ricochet fell to White, who curled it home with aplomb on his weaker left foot.

Odegaard – who else – was the provider 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 race towards goal with Cucurella. Havertz kept Cucurella well at bay and skillfully fired his shot over Petrovic and into the roof of the net.

Two goals in five minutes had won the game for Arteta’s team. They didn’t need any more help from poor Jackson, but he gave it anyway. When good work from Noni Madueke set him free on the edge of the six-yard box, Jackson superbly rounded his man and then, with the goal at his mercy, slid his shot precisely into the side netting.

The match turned into a rout midway through the half when Saka came in from the right and slid the ball to Havertz 15 yards out. Havertz took a tap and speared his shot low to Petrovic’s left, where it bounced off the base of the post and rolled in.

Arsenal made it five after 70 minutes when Odegaard threw a ball forward for White and White very nonchalantly hit the ball over Petrovic. It may have been intended as a cross, but at that point it didn’t matter anymore. The defeat had become a humiliation.