JOR-DROPPING
CHELSEA lost for only the third time in the Thomas Tuchel era as Jorginho’s howler allowed Emile Smith Rowe to secure Arsenal a 1-0 Premier League victory at Stamford Bridge last night.
Defeat for the below-par Blues, who face Leicester in the FA Cup final this weekend, gave some hope to top-four chasers West Ham and Liverpool, although both sides have little margin for error in their remaining fixtures despite games in hand.
Tuchel made seven changes from Saturday’s 2-1 win at Manchester City, the Chelsea boss – like his counterpart Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester
United – having to rotate his squad to manage a hectic schedule.
Tuchel must hope Kai Havertz’s finishing can improve as he should have fired the Champions League finalists ahead early on. The German, having robbed Pablo Mari in midfield, raced through on goal but could only fire over the bar from the edge of the area.
Smith Rowe broke the deadlock on 16 minutes after a moment of calamity from Jorginho, whose wayward backpass put Kepa Arrizabalaga under huge pressure. The Spanish keeper prevented an own goal but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang collected the loose ball and set up Smith Rowe to fire home.
Havertz’s appeal for a penalty after he tumbled under a Gabriel challenge fell on deaf ears and Christian Pulisic found the net from close range only for VAR to rule the goal out for offside.
Arsenal had a remarkable double escape in the 90th minute – Kurt Zouma and Olivier Giroud hitting the bar in the space of a few seconds – as they moved up to eighth in the table.