Louis Sealey
Published March 1, 2026 7:45pm
Updated March 1, 2026 7:45pm
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Arsenal legend Ian Wright (Picture: Getty)
Ian Wright revealed his ‘worry’ for Arsenal and their Premier League title charge after the narrow win over Chelsea.
Jurrien Timber’s second-half header earned Arsenal a 2-1 victory over London rivals Chelsea and restored the Gunners’ five-point lead in the title race.
Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead through William Saliba but were pegged back on the stroke of half-time through Piero Hincapie’s own goal.
Shortly after Arsenal retook the lead Chelsea lost a player to a red card for the seventh time in the Premier League this season, this time Pedro Neto the guilty party and sent off for a second yellow card.
Despite boasting a one-goal lead and a numerical advantage, Arsenal had to withstand some nervy moments late on, with David Raya denying Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro and Alejandro Garnacho.
Raya was beaten in injury-time by Liam Delap but Arsenal were relieved to see the offside flag raised.
Arsenal legend Wright feared a Chelsea equaliser and said it would ‘be nice to find out what is happening’ to his former club in the second-half of games.
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Jurrien Timber scored Arsenal’s winner (Picture: Getty)
The Gunners were pegged back in the second half in the recent draws with Brentford and Wolves and threatened to do the same against Chelsea.
‘Chelsea, once they went down to 10 men, they started to play. It was worrying,’ Wright said on Premier League Productions.
‘Arsenal showing those nerves, those jittery nerves at the latter stags of games, they need to take the opportunities earlier on so they can relax at this stage.
Pedro Neto was sent off at the Emirates Stadium (Picture: Getty)
‘They have to just win now, especially the home games. It’s not going to be something that instils you with loads of confidence but it’s a win.
‘We’re seeing in the second half of games, you can get at Arsenal. Chelsea had 10 men there, it would be nice to find out what’s happening to Arsenal in the second half.
‘It comes down to “you get the job done”, I’m happy the job is done, but I’m going to be nervous for the next game because I’m seeing that again in the second half.’
Mikel Arteta after Arsenal beat Chelsea (Picture: Getty)
Ex-Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle also saw Chelsea look almost more threatening after Neto’s red card.
‘Overall when Chelsea went down to 10 they almost relaxed,’ he said. ‘They started to really play.
‘When they scored they started to control the game. Chelsea started to have a bit of swagger about them and deserved a point out of the game. David Raya has made some great saves.’
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Arteta also wanted Arsenal to show more control after Chelsea went down to ten men but highlighted the Blues’ ‘immense quality’ as a reason that failed to happen.
‘I’m very, very happy,’ he said. ‘The players made an incredible performance as well and put so much into the game.
‘After the great victory against Spurs, this would be even another level of difficulty. Against 10 men, I expected a different game but look at the quality on the pitch – immense.
‘Set-pieces are still the ones that made the difference. They are so good at that, and we are so good at that as well.’
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