EPL Review: Arsenal’s discipline issue, Chelsea making progress

Following every weekend of Premier League action, theScore examines the most important developments and biggest talking points to emerge from the slate of matches. Below, we dissect Matchweek 5 of the 2024-25 season.

Trossard lets Arsenal down

Leandro Trossard owes his teammates one.

Arsenal dug extremely deep in Sunday’s eventful 2-2 draw with title rivals Manchester City, withstanding the hosts’ onslaught until John Stones finally broke their resistance with a somewhat fortuitous equalizer in the 98th minute.

Aside from perhaps the Santiago Bernabeu on a Champions League night, the Etihad Stadium, against Man City, is probably the last place in the world you’d want to be forced into playing with 10 men for over 45 minutes. Getting anything from that situation is an enormous ask. Arsenal were seconds away from grabbing all three points despite City having nearly 90% of the ball in the second half. The immediate pain of the late goal will sting, obviously, but Mikel Arteta’s team should be proud of how it dealt with adversity in a backs-against-the-wall situation.

But they shouldn’t have been in that spot to begin with.

With his team 2-1 up, Trossard was sent off just before halftime, earning a second yellow for foolishly kicking the ball away after committing a needless foul on Bernardo Silva. It was all very, very unnecessary.

On its own merit, it was a brainless thing for the Belgian forward to do. Considering the context of the match and the timing, it was even worse. Considering that he watched teammate Declan Rice get sent off for precisely the same thing just three games ago, it was worse still. The Premier League is clearly cracking down on that specific infraction. Players need to adapt.

Since Arteta took over, no Premier League club has had more players sent off than Arsenal. Complaints about inconsistent applications of the rulebook are not totally invalid, but Arsenal can do themselves a huge favor by simply cutting out these types of mental lapses.

Beating Manchester City to the Premier League title is already hard enough. There’s no need to make it more difficult.

Quick free-kicks 📝

Aimless West Ham: What’s the plan here, exactly? Julen Lopetegui doesn’t seem to know, and, unsurprisingly, neither do his players. West Ham supporters grew tired of David Moyes’ unimaginative style during the end of his tenure. But even if it wasn’t the most pleasing to the eye, at least everyone seemed to be aware of their role on the pitch. There was an obvious structure. That was far from the case Saturday when the Hammers were … hammered at home by Chelsea. West Ham have lost their opening three home league matches of a season for the first time, and there are no signs that Lopetegui knows how to turn things around.

Chelsea making progress: Since a humbling 4-2 loss at home to Wolves in February, Chelsea have only suffered two Premier League defeats in 20 matches. Those came against Manchester City and Arsenal, the two best teams in the country. Whisper it, but that’s pretty good. Despite the infamous transfer strategy and expenditure, squabbling co-owners, and a rotating cast of coaches, Chelsea have seemingly found their groove on the field. West Ham were very accommodating Saturday, but Chelsea picked them apart with impressive precision. Maybe the banter era is over?

Villa avoid UCL hangover: We talk about it every season. For teams making a rare appearance in the Champions League, the jump from playing one game per week to competing at the highest level midweek and then having to turn around and perform in the league just a few days later is gigantic. Aston Villa took part in the Conference League last season, of course, but let’s be honest, this is a different animal. Though they left it late, they passed their first test in this space, backing up their Champions League victory with a comeback win over Wolves. It will be interesting to see how Unai Emery manages his squad during Champions League weeks going forward.

Spurs’ Johnson silences critics: Brennan Johnson was subjected to social media abuse following Tottenham’s loss to Arsenal in the north London derby earlier this month. He’s responded emphatically to the unwarranted criticism. The 23-year-old scored a stoppage-time winner in the League Cup midweek, ensuring Spurs avoided a humiliating exit against Coventry City, and then followed that up with the eventual winning goal Saturday against Brentford. It was heartening to see the reaction from the fans inside the stadium, who showed their full support for the forward during a trying time in his young career. Johnson, like any emerging player, deserves time and patience to continue his development, not off-field distractions generated by foolish “fans.”

Relegation rivals cancel each other out: Southampton and Everton could come to rue their inability to maintain their respective early leads in eventual draws with Ipswich Town and Leicester City this weekend. It’s looking like multiple teams will be battling to avoid relegation this season. All four of the aforementioned clubs, unfortunately, could be involved in that scrap all season. The margins will be slim come the end of the campaign, and every point counts. The ones in September are worth the same as the ones in May. Throwing them away could certainly come back to bite both sides. It’s become a very familiar early-campaign theme for Everton, in particular.

Kelleher’s calming presence: Caoimhin Kelleher went public with his desire to leave Liverpool after the Reds signed Giorgi Mamardashvili this summer. Kelleher knows his opportunities, already limited playing behind Alisson, would be virtually nil once Mamardashvili is at Anfield next year. The Irishman continues to put himself in the shop window and prove that he deserves an opportunity to be a first-choice ‘keeper somewhere else, delivering another solid performance in Saturday’s win over Bournemouth. Liverpool eventually pulled away, but Kelleher’s early saves were critical in keeping Arne Slot’s team in the game before Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez took over.

Star performer 🌟

Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea)

Jackson has had his fair share of critics since joining Chelsea. He can look indecisive and awkward in front of goal at times, spurning seemingly simple opportunities and creating questions about his ability to be the go-to scorer for a club with ambitions of winning trophies. That the Blues have been consistently linked with other strikers since his arrival suggests those questions were being asked within the club, too.

But, much like the rest of the team, the Senegalese international is showing signs of growth. Every striker misses chances, but Jackson doesn’t let that deter him and keeps using his pace and clever movement to get into great positions. Do that often enough, and the goals will come. They did Saturday, as he found the net twice and set up another in Chelsea’s comprehensive win over West Ham.

The Hammers didn’t exactly provide much resistance, but that’s not Jackson’s concern. He took full advantage to score two quick goals that effectively put the weekend’s opening match to bed in the first 20 minutes.

Best XI 😎

(Courtesy: FotMob)

Highlight of the weekend 🎥

Darwin Nunez is the ultimate enigma. For every inexplicable miss, he seems to also conjure up sensational moments like this strike against Bournemouth. Should he have even attempted this shot from such an absurd angle? Probably not. But we’re sure glad he did. Never change, Darwin.

Stat of the weekend 🔢

Manchester City had 77.6% possession against Arsenal on Sunday. They completed 699 passes and had 33 shot attempts against the 10-man Gunners, who barely saw the ball after Trossard’s red card.

Social media moment 📱

Lisandro Martinez was extremely lucky not to be sent off for an absurd – and totally unnecessary – two-footed jumping tackle against Crystal Palace.

The Argentine defender’s moment of madness did spawn some outstanding memes, though.

Where we stand 👀

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