Three positives and negatives from Arsenal's resilient win over Chelsea

Arsenal showed resilience to overcome a frustrating test against London rivals Chelsea with a 2-1 win that restored their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

The Gunners went ahead through William Saliba when Gabriel Magalhaes met Bukayo Saka's corner at the back post to head back across for his defensive partner to head it in. They were pegged back though when Piero Hincapié put the ball into his own net just before half-time. However, Jurrien Timber put his side back in front after the break, again through a corner, beating Robert Sanchez from close range.

While the three points are what mattered, it wasn't the most incredible performance for Mikel Arteta's side and there were a number of positives and negatives for Arsenal to take from their capital clash triumph.

Three positives and negatives from Arsenal's resilient win over Chelsea

Positive #1: Set piece again ole ole (x2)

As has been the case so many times this season, set pieces were what counted for Arsenal against Chelsea as both their goals came from dead ball situations.

Their opener was scored when Bukayo Saka sent a corner all the way to the back post for Gabriel to head across goal to William Saliba, whose header from close range deflected off Mamadou Sarr into the back of the net.

Jurrien Timber then grabbed his side's second goal and guess what... it came from another corner. It was Declan Rice who sent the ball into the box this time with his perfect delivery too great for Chelsea to deal with, allowing the Dutchman to head past a flailing Robert Sanchez.

Call the Gunners boring for their method of scoring from set pieces, but there is no denying it is working. The double against the Blues takes their goals from dead balls tally to 22 in the Premier League this season (including three penalties), almost a whopping 38% of Arsenal's 58 goals this season.

Set piece again ole ole.

Negative #1: Set piece weakness on show

While set pieces prevailed at the other end of the pitch, they were also somewhat of an issue for the Gunners in their own area.

Chelsea caused plenty of problems for the hosts with Reece James' corner deliveries consistently being a source of trouble for Arteta's side. That showed when Piero Hincapié headed one of the right back's crosses into his own net to pull the Blues level moments before half-time.

The Ecuadorian's own goal was the eighth goal have conceded from a set piece in the league this season and Arteta, and Nicolas Jover, will be hoping their side can rid themselves of this weakness before it becomes a serious cause for concern. However brilliant Arsenal may be at attacking set pieces, their dead ball defensive abilities could do with a bit of work.

Positive #2: Winning ugly games

Another area that has been of slight concern for Arsenal this season is their struggle to win the ugly games where they're not particularly at their best, but they managed to get themselves over the line against Chelsea.

The Blues showed no signs of repeating their Carabao Cup semi-final failure as Liam Rosenior set his side up to cause problems for their hosts from the off, making the derby clash particularly trickier than needed for the Gunners.

However, Arteta's side did well to overcome the trouble they were caused by their West London rivals to take all three points from a tough test. In a title race, performances aren't always pretty, but three points is what matters in every game, and Arsenal made sure of that on Sunday.

Negative #2: Not a great performance

Of course, Arsenal did what was important and managed to take the win from a difficult game, but there is no denying their performance wasn't necessarily up to scratch against Chelsea.

Even considering the huge gap in quality of opponents, the Gunners didn't look like the same side that blew Tottenham away just a week earlier as their slow and negative play at times made it difficult for them to overcome the Blues.

Take away the set piece goals and it could have been a very different story for the 215th meeting between Arsenal and Chelsea. If Arteta is to guide his side to their first league title in over 20 years, he has to ensure they stop playing in such a negative fashion and just go out and kill teams.

Positive #3: Raya and Timber back to best

Both David Raya and Jurrien Timber were guilty of putting in lacklustre performances in recent weeks. The Spaniard was at fault for Wolves' equalising goal in the 2-2 draw at Molineux while his Dutch teammate looked off it in a number of games.

However, both looked back to their best as they played crucial parts in the win over Chelsea. Not only did Timber net the decisive goal, he also got up the pitch to help out in attack on multiple occasions while Raya made some top saves to help his side to the win.

Having seen the pair struggle at times, it was great to see them both back to their best in Sunday's victory as they will be incredibly important assets to Arteta in the final games of the campaign.

Negative #3: Tiredness showing

Despite having a week off following the victory at Spurs and some looking back to their best, the tiredness showed for a few players in the win over Chelsea.

Having started the game on the left wing, Leandro Trossard failed to have any real impact on the tie as he was arguably his side's worst player throughout before being withdrawn for Gabriel Martinelli before the hour mark.

Rice even looked slightly leggy at times as he was guilty of making a poor mistake that conceded a corner and could have cost his side, as well as getting away with a handball shout against him in the penalty box. He was taken off for Christian Nørgaard late on.

With the Champions League and midweek fixtures kicking back in over the coming weeks, certain performances against Chelsea could prompt Arteta to think twice about team selection as he looks to avoid tiredness playing too big a part in results amid the title race.