Gunners fire 5 past city rivals Chelsea

LONDON, April 24

Ruthless Arsenal threw down the gauntlet in the Premier League title race with a 5-0 thrashing of London rivals Chelsea to roar three points clear at the top of the table on Tuesday.

Any remaining doubts about Arsenal’s staying power were answered emphatically as Leandro Trossard gave them an early lead before Ben White and Kai Havertz scored two each in a dazzling spell after the break to sweep aside a dazed Chelsea.

It was a powerful statement by Arsenal who have recovered impressively from a home defeat by Aston Villa and bowing out of the Champions League and with four games remaining are piling the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City.

“Very happy with the win, with the amount of chances and goals we scored,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, whose side face arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, said. “And with the clean sheet as well it shows the consistency.”

For ninth-placed Chelsea it was a humbling night as they suffered their heaviest ever defeat to Arsenal. — Reuters

Liverpool in talks with Feyenoord over Slot

Amsterdam: Liverpool have lined up Feyenoord coach Arne Slot as successor to departing manager Juergen Klopp and have opened negotiations with the Eredivisie club, Dutch media reported today. The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper said Liverpool made contact with Feyenoord today morning. Slot was heavily linked with a possible move to Tottenham Hotspur last year. Meanwhile, Austria coach Ralf Rangnick said Bayern Munich had been in touch, with the German club in search of a successor to departing Thomas Tuchel. Rangnick said he was not dealing with any potential Bayern interest at the moment, with his focus firmly on the Euro 2024 starting in Germany in June. Reuters