Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: Jurrien Timber the hero as Gunners quickly restore five-point title lead

Arsenal faced a major examination of their Premier League title credentials after Jurrien Timber and William Saliba both scored from corners in a 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.

A week after beating Tottenham, Arsenal recorded another crucial triumph to restore their five-point advantage over Manchester City, despite playing a game more.

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Saliba sent the hosts on their way midway through the first half when he converted Bukayo Saka’s corner, only for Piero Hincapie to put it through his own net in first-half injury time.

Chelsea’s equalizer, also from a corner, shook the Gunners, but they were back on track after 66 minutes when Timber headed in Declan Rice’s inswinger.

Pedro Neto received a yellow card for complaining about Timber’s goal, then earned a second booking minutes later after mowing down Gabriel Martinelli.

This resulted in Chelsea’s seventh red card in the league this season and second in as many matches.

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Arsenal might have been expected to head for the full-time whistle, but David Raya made a brilliant diving save from Alejandro Garnacho’s curling effort and Liam Delap saw an effort chalked off for offside – both in added time – as the Gunners took a big step forward to win their first title in 22 years.

With just nine games remaining, Arsenal will play just one game against a team currently in the top six – next month’s enticing trip to Pep Guardiola’s City.

After City’s win at Leeds, Arsenal were under pressure and their first match arrived with an air of inevitability.

Saka’s incoming corner was met by a monstrous leap from Gabriel, who rose above Joao Pedro and Reece James to volley the ball back across the area, and Saliba’s reaction header bounced off Mamadou Sarr’s shoulder and past a flying Robert Sanchez.

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But Arsenal would receive a dose of their own medicine.

Raya pulled off a brilliant one-handed save to deny Rice an own goal when James’ corner bounced off his elbow. Rice may have been lucky to avoid giving away a penalty, but in the end it didn’t matter as Hincapie found his own net by deflecting James’ following corner.

Arsenal had largely dominated the first 45 minutes, but suddenly it was a very different team talk for Mikel Arteta.

Raya was called into action six minutes after the break when he diverted Enzo Fernandez’s grass trimmer for a corner. He then had to catch Joao Pedro’s header on target again.

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As Chelsea’s confidence grew, so did the anxiety within the Emirates.

Arsenal were on edge and, after Saliba allowed Cole Palmer to pinch the ball with his toes, Arteta appeared to signal to his own fans to keep calm.

And minutes later, the Arsenal fans were celebrating when Timber arrived on the end of Rice’s corner.

16 of Arsenal’s 52 league goals so far this season have come from corners, matching a record for a single Premier League campaign which they share with Oldham and West Brom. This record will surely be rewritten.

Chelsea called for a push on Sanchez and were furious that the goal was held, with Neto forcing his way into Darren England’s book.

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A second yellow followed in the 70th minute when he prevented Martinelli’s counter-attack with a wild challenge.

The game had changed in a flash and Sanchez denied Eberechi Eze’s low strike 10 minutes from time.

At the other end, Moises Caicedo’s long-range strike flew narrowly over and Raya tipped Garnacho’s effort for a corner.

Chelsea thought they had scored when Delap found the back of the net, but Joao Pedro was offside in the build-up and Arsenal survived to take a step closer to their first title since 2004.