Arsenal 5-0 Chelsea: Player ratings as Havertz humiliates embarrassing Blues

Arsenal handed Chelsea the most humiliating defeat of the Mauricio Pochettino era so far as they romped to an emphatic 5-0 victory on Tuesday.

After Leandro Trossard's early opener, Ben White and Kai Havertz both netted twice for Mikel Arteta's Premier League leaders, with Chelsea's decent first-half performance descending into farce after the interval.

How the game unfolded

Havertz got in behind inside the first minute before slowly falling to the ground in the penalty area, but a correctly raised offside flag ended any calls for an early penalty from the home fans.

However, Arsenal did not have to wait long for their lead. Trossard was sent in down the left and his powerful drive went through Djordje Petrovic's legs and nestled into the back of the net to put the Gunners ahead inside five minutes - the team's 100th goal in all competitions this season.

Takehiro Tomiyasu nodded over the bar ten minutes later as Arsenal remained in control, before Declan Rice's curled effort from the edge of the box narrowly fizzed over the frame of Petrovic's goal.

Chelsea eventually started to settle and the Blues even struck the post as Nicolas Jackson's cross pinged off Gabriel and crashed against the woodwork.

Petrovic atoned for his earlier mistake with a strong save to deny Havertz, which was immediately followed by a point-blank denial of Trossard.

Nicolas Jackson should have equalised shortly before half-time when he rose highest to meet a cross, but the Senegal international seemed to back out of committing to the effort and ultimately allowed the ball to drift past his head and strike his hand.

Petrovic denied Havertz once again shortly after the restart, but White slotted home from the ensuing corner to double Arsenal's advantage.

Havertz did get his goal 57 minutes in. A sensational pass from Martin Odegaard sent the former Chelsea man through on goal and he gleefully celebrated putting his former employers to the sword.

Eight minutes later and Havertz had another. He found an inch of space in the box and smartly sent his effort right into Petrovic's bottom corner, clearly struggling to believe just how easy he was finding things.

The fifth came almost immediately after. White added his second in comedic fashion as what was surely an attempted cross for Havertz ended up drifting beyond Petrovic and into the back of the net.

Declan Rice struck the post and Fabio Vieira crashed against the side netting as Chelsea lay beaten and bruised late on, with the referee finally putting them out of their misery with the final whistle.

Arsenal player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: David Raya - 6/10 - Largely a spectator but stood tall whenever he was needed.

RB: Ben White - 10/10 - A monster down the right. His high pressing and desire to get forward caused all sorts of problems for Chelsea's defence, and White even created plenty of chances for his attackers and took his first goal well. Deserved all the luck that came with his second.

CB: William Saliba - 6/10 - Looked incredibly tired as Jackson had him chasing shadows in the first half, but Chelsea's complete disappearance after the break gave him some well-earned rest.

CB: Gabriel - 6/10 - Breathed a sigh of relief when his deflection fizzed away off Raya's post. Didn't deserve to be on the wrong end of that.

LB: Takehiro Tomiyasu - 7/10 - Really struggled up against Madueke in the first half but clearly won his battle in the second.

DM: Thomas Partey - 7/10 - An excellent anchor at the base of Arsenal's midfield. Comfortable in the tackle and even pretty tidy on the ball.

CM: Martin Odegaard - 9/10 - Needed the first half to find his passing range but pulled out some glorious balls after the break. Totally ran the show.

CM: Declan Rice - 7/10 - Charged forwards whenever possible. Seemed to play with freedom with Partey behind him. Grabbed the assist for Trossard's opener.

RW: Bukayo Saka - 7/10 - Definitely not at his electric best but still gave Cucurella a handful of scares and walked away with an assist.

ST: Kai Havertz - 8/10 - Guilty of a handful of poor decisions in the final third early on but Arsenal fans were rightly happy to sing his name after he netted twice after the break.

LW: Leandro Trossard - 7/10 - Set the tone with a crisp early strike and never stopped running up against young Gilchrist.

Substitutes

SUB: Gabriel Jesus (72' for Havertz) - 6/10

SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (72' for Trossard) - 6/10

SUB: Oleksandr Zinchenko (72' for Tomiyasu) - 6/10

SUB: Jorginho (72' for Partey) - 6/10

SUB: Fabio Vieira (81' for Saka) - N/A

Subs not used: Aaron Ramsdale (GK), Jakub Kiwior, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah

Manager

Mikel Arteta - 8/10 - Arsenal were not at their best in the first half but Arteta clearly worked some magic at the break because his side were simply unplayable after the restart.

Chelsea player ratings (4-2-3-1)

GK: Djordje Petrovic - 5/10 - Should have done a lot better for Trossard's opener but did his best to redeem himself with some smart saves. Stopped this from easily being seven or eight.

RB: Alfie Gilchrist - 3/10 - Didn't enjoy his battle with Trossard and looked a little uncomfortable in attack, but can hardly be blamed considering he's not a full-back.

CB: Axel Disasi - 1/10 - Didn't inspire confidence as Arsenal's forwards constantly ran at him. Well off the pace.

CB: Benoit Badiashile - 1/10 - Gave the ball away in dangerous areas time after time after time. Hard to believe this is the same player that impressed last season.

LB: Marc Cucurella - 3/10 - Actually had a pretty impressive first half but couldn't keep up in the second half.

DM: Enzo Fernandez - 2/10 - Chelsea found it hard to involve Fernandez, who struggled to pull out the sort of passes needed from him.

DM: Moises Caicedo - 2/10 - The game quickly slipped away from Caicedo, whose defensive screening disappeared as the clock ticked on.

RM: Noni Madueke - 4/10 - Some lively showings early on which quickly disappeared as the clock ticked on.

AM: Conor Gallagher - 4/10 - Did his best to get involved in as much as possible but was chasing shadows in the second half.

LM: Mykhailo Mudryk - 2/10 - No attacking threat and hardly any cover for Cucurella up against Saka. A real passenger at times.

ST: Nicolas Jackson - 4/10 - Ran the channels very well and caused plenty of problems with his direct running, but never looked a real threat when he got to goal. Perhaps a little fortunate to avoid an early red card.

Substitutes

SUB: Trevoh Chalobah (66' for Fernandez) - 5/10

SUB: Raheem Sterling (66' for Mudryk) - 5/10

SUB: Thiago Silva (78' for Gilchrist) - 5/10

SUB: Cesare Casadei (78' for Casadei) - 5/10

Subs not used: Marcus Bettinelli (GK), Carney Chukwuemeka, Jimi Tauriainen, Kiano Dyer, Deivid Washington

Manager

Mauricio Pochettino - 1/10 - Humiliating. Utterly pathetic. Gets one bonus point for actually naming a team but perhaps he would've been better off declining to do so.

Player of the match - Ben White (Arsenal)