Three standout Arsenal players from their hard-fought 2-1 win against Chelsea

Arsenal toiled for much of this match and, at times, it looked like more precious points were about to slip from their grasp.

But they did find a way through it – the best teams often do – and their win owes, once again, to their set-piece threat. No side excels at them quite like the Gunners; the delivery, decoy runs and bullet headers from a giant defence have often proved too difficult for fellow Premier League rearguards to resist.

Three standout players for Arsenal after their 2-1 Premier League win against Chelsea

Mikel Arteta is not the only one to benefit from them, though, as the visitors here tested the home resolve from corners and forced the Piero Hincapié own goal just before half time. But it is well known that the aforementioned Arsenal backline is equally strong at the opposite end and their combined efforts were enough to get the team a huge league win against the Blues.

They remain at the top for now and here are three standout Arsenal names from a hard-fought derby victory.          

Jurrien Timber

Doubts hung over his fitness levels in recent weeks but, on this evidence, it seems all Jurrien Timber needed was a short break.

He looked back to his best on Sunday after a week off following the NLD. Of course, his goal will grab the headlines but he posed more of a threat going forward than he has done in recent games, owing somewhat to the central role of Cole Palmer which left space for him to make those big runs beyond Bukayo Saka.

Timber almost got caught out as the deepest defender when Chelsea drove up the pitch in the final minutes. Yet that cannot take away from an otherwise top-class individual showing, made even more important by the persistent injury troubles of Ben White.

His five successful duels, unerring ability to win the ball back and two shots on target are just some of the numbers that help to illustrate the impact he had at both ends of the pitch and perhaps justify Arteta in running him into the ground!

The Dutchman has been one of the many ‘Mr. Consistent’ types for Arsenal this campaign and to hit those heights post-ACL is quite incredible.   

David Raya

You would almost forgive him his Wolves blunder.

David Raya has stood out all year and bounced back well last week after his late error at Molineux on the preceding Wednesday night.

He kept that ‘bounce-back’ effect going here.

Chelsea tested him at every corner yet he still gave a good account of himself each time, showing cat-like reflexes to prevent a Declan Rice own goal and, later, to stop Joao Pedro from grabbing a second goal for the Blues.

But his best moment came in stoppage time when Alejandro Garnacho sent a cross goalward and the goalkeeper kept his nerve to claw the ball to safety.

It is a testament to his skill and mental fortitude that Raya can leave the pain of that Wolves mistake behind him. In the subsequent games, he has performed at an elite level and he forms a big part of the reason why Arsenal remain five points clear.

Declan Rice

Even when not at his absolute best, Rice still produces the big moments that make all the difference for this Arsenal team.

He had a few mishaps on Sunday: one of his first-half corners barely got off the ground and was then cleared by the first defender, while a first-time strike from the edge of the box – normally one of his specialties – nearly went into orbit.

And his most egregious error came just after the Timber goal; after doing ever so well to cut off the Chelsea counter attack, Rice sent an awful pass back towards Raya which, ultimately, led to a Blues corner.

There was also a penalty shout against him in the first half…

But there was so much good stuff to enjoy too! The aforementioned foot race for the counter attack ranks highly along with his strong defensive work to bail out an off-the-boil Martin Zubimendi. Rice sprayed a few nice passes around too, while it was his excellent corner that teed up Timber for the decisive goal.

Tiredness might be to blame for some of his sloppy moments but it did not stop him from enjoying a good game.

Hopefully he is available for the Brighton clash.