The North West London Derby has always been a competitive clash, but on two occasions, Arsenal humiliated Chelsea by winning big
The North West London Derby, i.e., Arsenal versus Chelsea, is one of the oldest derbies in the world. Given the rivalry between the two millionaire clubs is less than 10 kilometres away from each other, the rivalry over the years has become intense since the first game they played against each other in November 1907, with Chelsea winning the first-ever derby.
However, despite the win-loss ratio remaining pretty balanced between the archrivals, on two separate occasions, Arsenal handed out two embarrassing defeats to Chelsea by scoring five goals against them. Ahead of the Sunday (November 10) Premier League clash between the two sides, let us recall the two occasions when Arsenal etched its most significant victories over Chelsea.
Full Time: Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea (Trossard, White x 2, Havertz x 2)
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) April 23, 2024
What. A. Win. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/3TSufIJCbd
Earlier this year, on April 24, the Gunners went all guns blazing against Chelsea when the latter visited the Emirates Stadium for a Premier League clash. Arsenal opened the scorebook in the fourth minute with a goal from Leandro Trossard, which could've easily been avoided. Declan Rice had received the ball from the centre half and moved into the penalty area. Even though five Chelsea players were around him, none tried to intervene in his run. A simple pass to Trossard was converted into a spectacular goal.
In the remainder of the first half, a few more Arsenal attacks followed, but Chelsea did not concede. However, the second half turned into a nightmare for the Blues.
The 52nd minute saw Rice take a strike, but it was deflected off Thomas Partey. However, luck played its charm as the deflected ball landed near Ben White, who calmly slotted in Arsenal's second goal. Five minutes later, former Chelsea player Kai Havertz scored one-on-one, followed by another in the 65th minute. In the 70th minute, Ben White also added his second goal of the game, taking the scoreline to Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea, besting their previous record of 5-1 against Chelsea in 1930 at the Emirates.
Throughout the game, Chelsea remained clueless not only while defending but also during its attacks. The team could only take seven shots, out of which only one was on target, whereas Arsenal had 10 shots on goals out of 27 attempts.
The 1930/31 season of the Football League witnessed Arsenal winning the league with a point difference of 18 at the top. Throughout the season, the Gunners thrashed several big clubs, but their most prominent victory was against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in front of 74,667 fans.
Given the internet did not exist almost a decade ago, not much is known about the match and what tactics were used or how goals were scored. However, David Jack scored a hat trick against the Blues, who was also the footballer to score the first-ever goal at the Wembley Stadium. The other two goals were scored by Jack Lambert, whereas in response, Chelsea managed a goal via a penalty, ending the game with an embarrassing score of 5-1.
A picture of David Jack who was signed by Arsenal in 1928 at a world record fee of £10,890
Head-to-head in the Premier League, Arsenal and Chelsea have played 60 games against each other. Arsenal won on 23 occasions, whereas Chelsea won 20 matches; the remaining 17 ended in draws.
