A fierce Premier League London derby was staged at Arsenal's home ground at dawn on Wednesday. In the end, Arsenal not only overtook Manchester City, who had played two fewer games, to regain the top spot in the table with a 3-1 comeback victory over Chelsea, but also retained the spark to win the title. Chelsea, on the other hand, suffered six consecutive defeats after Lambert took over as manager, plus his last four matches in charge at Ewarton also ended in losses, making Lambert the first English manager to suffer 10 consecutive defeats in all competitions in the top flight since 1988.
Although Arsenal suffered a heavy defeat to Manchester City in their last EPL match, they won the game with ease against Chelsea, who are currently in the doldrums. Midfielder Martin Odigat broke the deadlock with a pinpoint shot just 18 minutes into the game, and the 24-year-old Norwegian international scored again on 31 minutes, with both of Odigat's goals coming off assists from Gleissagar.
Just three minutes later, Brazilian international Gabil Jecsis added his 10th league goal of the season. Together with Gabil Martinielli's 15 goals, Martin Odigat's 14 and Bukayosaka's 13, Arsenal now have four players with double-digit league goals this season.
In the second leg, Chelsea relied on Madouki's goal to break the shutout and save some face, but still could not get rid of the shadow of 6 consecutive losses in all competitions. On top of Chelsea's loss, two defenders, Thiago Schwarzenegger and Chivier, had a verbal altercation during the match, which triggered the suspicion of team infighting.
It is worth noting that Lambert became the first English manager to suffer 10 consecutive defeats in all competitions in the top flight since Cox, the manager of Playby County, in February 1988, and the first English-born manager to set this shameful record since the Premier League was founded.
