They could have crumbled. The pressure was well and truly on, the score 1-1, the nerves jangling around the Emirates once again.
Instead, Arsenal dug in and found their winner, Jurrien Timber nodding home Declan Rice’s corner. A goal was on the horizon as the Gunners mounted their attacks and looked unrelenting in pursuit of another goal.
Still, hunger and determination doesn’t automatically translate to a team getting what they deserve.
Arsenal’s next nine fixtures made this match all the more important – of the current top six, only Manchester City are left on their schedule.
Winning at this stage of the season is a non-negotiable, and the way the home side navigated their way to victory ticked a few boxes.
They never gave up in the face of a grumbling home crowd, which had arguably contributed to their nervousness in previous weeks.
Jurrien Timber headed home a corner in a crowded box to give Arsenal the victory
It was a battle of attrition, the kind which required careful navigation. The chances were there but Chelsea weathered the storm and had their chances, David Raya pulling off a fine few saves to thwart them.
The more pressing point was Arsenal’s continued prowess at utilising the one ploy which has gone some way to keeping Mikel Arteta’s men top of the Premier League: set-pieces.
It was two corner kicks which set this victory up for the Gunners, a ninth time in the league this season that the north London club had scored a match-winning goal from a corner; that is now the outright most by a team in a campaign (overtaking Manchester United’s eight in the 2012-13 season).
Overall, it was their 16th league goal from a corner. That equals the most by any side in a league season, alongside Oldham in 1992-93, West Brom in 2016-17, and the Gunners themselves in 2023-24.
To Arsenal’s credit, they have been on top of this craft for some time. So much so, even some of their rivals have only just gone about trying to close the gap.
Liverpool, for example, scored the least number of goals from set pieces across the league from August to December (three).
Since January 1, they have struck nine, which is the most to date — and one more than Arsenal.
It reflects just how the north London club’s efforts in mastering set-pieces is paying off big time.
They have been ahead of the curve for months, the envy of other teams who wish they could find a goal at desperate times of need.
David Raya saved from Joao Pedro – one of many crucial stops by the Gunners’ goalkeeper
Though, it also helps when you have a goalkeeper of the standard of Raya.
His stop to deny Alejandro Garnacho scoring from an injury-time cross was world class, and followed an earlier save when a corner nearly deflected in off Declan Rice.
He is a huge piece of the jigsaw in Arsenal’s title pursuit.
But there is a warning sign…
Despite the three points, an area Arsenal need to solve quickly is conceding goals after scoring.
For the fourth consecutive league game, the Gunners leaked a goal having taken the lead.
This could well prove to be not good enough in a title race which will likely be decided by the finest of margins.
Arteta’s men can’t just rely on the heroics of Raya or a set-piece goal to dig them out of trouble so often.
The Spaniard had made a point of reminding his stars at half-time about this habit, using the example of Arsenal conceding two minutes after scoring against Tottenham to fire them up.
‘I reminded them that we were in the exactly same position against Spurs seven days ago in that dressing room,’ said Arteta.
‘They said, “Look what happened in the second half, so we’re going to do it again”. But probably we’re going to have to go through some difficult patches to earn the right to win the game.’
Rectifying this issue must be treated as a priority.
