Arsenal net 6 to keep pace with Liverpool, City
Arsenal matched their biggest Premier League away win with the 6-0 pummelling of Sheffield United on Monday after scoring five times in the first half when they tore the home side apart to close within two points of leaders Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta’s team are third with 61 points after 27 games, a point behind Manchester City but with a much better goal difference than their title rivals. The Blades remain rooted to the bottom on 13 points, 11 adrift of the safety zone.
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The Gunners are the first Premier league team with seven wins in a row this season and appear to be gaining momentum at just the right time to keep the pressure on the top two.
“A great performance and a big result for us again with the amount of goals we scored and the clean sheet,” said delighted Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“The team shows signs of wanting more, very positive. The energy is really good at the moment. When you are winning everything is easier, we have to maintain momentum now.”
Arsenal were ruthless as they sliced through United’s defence with ease from the start. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard opened the floodgates with his fifth-minute goal, firing home from the middle of the box after a cute cutback from Declan Rice.
“We won 6-0 today and recently we have won a lot, but the work we do without the ball from the front to the goalkeeper is really good and it is a pleasure to be a part of,” said Odegaard.
There was more misery to come for United goalkeeper Ivo Grbic on a night that saw six different names on the scoresheet.
Jayden Bogle put through his own goal in the 13th before Gabriel Martinelli struck two minutes later, sending scores of weary United fans to the Bramall Lane exits, while Kai Havertz (25th minute), Rice (39), and Ben White (58) also netted.
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The visitor’s early fireworks had the 9-0 Premier League scoring record looking in jeopardy, but Blades fans were spared more misery partly due to Arteta’s substitutions including forward Bukayo Saka heading to the bench after an excellent 45 minutes.
Arsenal were denied a seventh goal thanks to an excellent save from Grbic who batted away a curling shot from substitute Gabriel Jesus that looked destined for the far corner.
They matched their best Premier League away win set in the 6-0 rout of West Ham United on Feb. 11 and their record six-goal victory margin in a 7-1 top flight win over Aston Villa in 1935.
The Gunners did make history on Monday by becoming the first English side to win three consecutive away matches by a margin of five or more goals.
They also became only the second English team to score at least five goals in three successive top flight away matches after Burnley in September 1961.
United have lost their last four games at Bramall Lane in all competitions having conceded 21 goals and scored two.
“They cut us wide open, they are doing that to a lot of teams, I’m not saying that makes us feel better because that is another long night for this club,” United manager Chris Wilder told the BBC. “Saka took us to pieces down that side, whatever you need to do you have to try and stem the tide, especially when they are in full flow.
“We didn’t have an answer to anything they had. The result is what the result is and we have to live with it.”