Madueke features, Chukwuemeka benched as ruthless Arsenal record biggest-ever win against Chelsea 

England U21 international of Nigerian descent,  Noni Madueke made his seventh start in the 2023-2024 Premier League as Chelsea suffered their biggest ever defeat to Arsenal in 209 meetings between both teams, losing 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday night. 

With Cole Palmer unavailable for selection due to illness, Madueke was included in the Blues starting lineup for the third consecutive league game for the first time this season.

Carney Chukwuemeka watched the drama unfold from the bench, with manager Mauricio Pochettino opting to use only four of his substitutes -  Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva and Cesare Casadei.

The big defeat in the London derby highlighted the importance of Premier League's joint-top scorer Palmer to the Chelsea side. 

Leandro Trossard smashed the ball into the net in the fourth minute to give the Gunners a dream start. 

Mikel Arteta's team netted four times in eighteen second half minutes, with Ben White and Chelsea old boy Kai Havertz bagging two goals apiece. 

White tapped in to double the advantage after Declan Rice's effort was blocked in the 52nd minute and Kai Havertz dinked the ball over the goalkeeper to put the game out of the reach of Chelsea in the 57th minute. 

In the 65th minute, Havertz compounded Chelsea's woes by finding the back of the net after the ball ricocheted off the post, before White wrapped up the scoring in the 70th minute. 

Arsenal continue to top the Premier League standings with 77 points from 34 games, while Chelsea stay in ninth with 47 points but have two games in hand over eighth-placed West Ham United. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: chelseafc.com

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