Goal-hungry Arsenal slice up Blades to maintain chase
Premier League: Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 6
BEN White scored the 10,000th goal in Arsenal’s history on a night that had you reaching for the record books but which also served as a non-too-gentle reminder to Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola that the Gunners are fully capable of disrupting what some see as a private, two-team title race between the north-west rivals.
Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Declan Rice were also on the mark for Mikel Arteta’s side who recorded a seventh straight league win and maintained their relentless goalscoring run.
From the moment, after 75 seconds, that the sublime Saka thundered a shot against the bar and Martinelli’s follow-up was cleared off the line by Jack Robinson, it was obvious this would be a special night for Arsenal.
By the time Martinelli made it 3-0 on 15 minutes, Blades fans were leaving in their droves and the numbers grew ever larger as Havertz hit a fourth and Rice the fifth still with six minutes left in the half.
In truth, a single goal would have been enough to clinch all three points for the Gunners and keep them breathing heavily down the necks of leaders Liverpool and Manchester City, who will be beating each other up at Anfield on Sunday.
But this was turning into a night that looked like offering more work for the statisticians and Arsenal historians than it would for their goalkeeper David Raya who, by conservative estimates, used his hands once in the first half, and that to save from a Blade who was flagged offside in any case.
Even by the interval, Arsenal had become only the second team in top-flight history to score at least five on three consecutive away outings - after their 6-0 win at West Ham and 5-0 romp at Burnley.
Chris Wilder’s
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