Arsenal vs Chelsea player ratings: Set pieces, red cards tell the story yet again

Arsenal are still five points clear of Manchester City in the Premier League title race after beating Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday, and the Gunners continue to do it with set pieces and defenders scoring most of the goals.

ARSENAL 2-1 CHELSEA — Video highlights & recap

Chelsea, on the other hand, continue to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to defending set pieces (head coach Liam Rosenior has some thoughts on that) and red cards. Pedro Neto's 70th-minute red was Chelsea's 7th in the PL and 9th in all competitions this season.

Arsenal player ratings

David Raya - 7: All-out effort to save Joao Pedro's seemingly wide-open header in a hugely decisive moment (53rd minute).
Jurrien Timber - 8: Somehow only the third- or fourth-best target on set pieces, he'd be one or two for most other PL sides. Elite defender and a plus-passer/carrier into the final third. Both starting full backs were/are flat out fantastic.
William Saliba - 7.5: Credited with the goal, plenty of pinpoint passing (92 percent) and a load of clearances (6).
Gabriel - 7.5: Another big header on a set piece, plus seven passes completed into the final third. A solid all-around job.
Piero Hincapie - 6.5: If you put the own goal aside, he has been stellar of late, particularly in possession with his forward runs and diagonal dribbles into the center — not at all what you'd expect from a center back/full back hybrid.
Martin Zubimendi - 6: Nearly gifted Chelsea a goal with a poor back-pass in the first half and only attempted 27 passes over 90 minutes (less than half of his average 58).
Declan Rice - 7: Corner-kick and free-kick delivery remains on point and seems to be worth and automatic goal (or two) every game at this point.
Eberechi Eze - 6: Another anonymous outing against anyone not named Tottenham Hotspur.
Bukayo Saka - 6.5: Less effective when the game gets stretched and everybody's running end to end.
Leandro Trossard - 5.5: Limited impact out on the left wing, came off after just 55 minutes.
Viktor Gyokeres - 6: No shots attempted in 76 minutes of action, 6/12 passing, 0/3 dribbling. Strange, because this counter-attacking affair should have been right up his alley.

Chelsea player ratings

Robert Sanchez - 5: Unbelievably perilous in possession, even for a Chelsea goalkeeper. Why can they simply not find a steady hand (or foot) in goal?
Reece James - 7: Same as Rice, Reece's set-piece delivery is incredibly difficult to for defenders to deal with — case in point, Hincapie heading the ball into his own net with very little pressure around him.
Trevoh Chalobah - 6.5: Comfortably Chelsea's best defender (on both sides of the ball) at the moment, but the rotating cast of partners does very little to help him (or the team).
Mamadou Sarr - 5.5: Unsure in possession and too often looks to go sideways or backwards — likely a product of instruction, but a bit of ball progression on the left would have been helpful.
Jorrel Hato - 6: Looks lively at left back and should be a good one for the future, but continues to fly by the seat of his pants at 19 years old.
Moises Caicedo - 6.5: Was in firefighter mode from the opening whistle, doing dirty defensive work all over the field and trying to make things difficult in the middle of the park where Arsenal are typically so dominant. Problem is: When he's fighting all of those fires, there's little time (or energy) left to do much else.
Andrey Santos - 5.5: Defensive work: check. Ball progression and chance creation: crickets. And for that, Romeo Lavia (75th-minute sub) remains the biggest absence of all of Chelsea's various injuries of the months and years.
Enzo Fernandez - 6: Largely taken out of the game by Rice and Zubimendi. 76 percent passing, 1 shot attempted, 0 chances created, 0 touches in the penalty area.
Pedro Neto - 4: First yellow card for something he said to the referee (who, to be fair, didn't have a good game) and the second for an ill-advised sliding tackle three minutes later. All red cards are bad, but some are worse.
Cole Palmer - 5.5: It's hard to tell if the midfield's lack of build-up is hindering Palmer, or if he has simply fallen off this badly.
Joao Pedro - 5.5: Sometimes with forwards, it all comes down to "Did you score the one chance you had to score," and well, he didn't today.