Arsenal: Ugly or tactically brilliant? The Gunners’ set pieces proved decisive once again

Arsenal will have to overcome the tension of the title race with just nine games remaining in their bid to win a first league title since 2004.

When BBC Sport asked them if they had to take their set-piece work to another level because of the work being done by other sides, Arteta agreed.

He said: “Yes, but every team must be fair.” “Look where they are in terms of the number of goals they score.

“We haven’t scored from set-pieces for a few weeks, but we’ve scored a lot of set-pieces.

“Today was an option to score from that kind of situation. We did that very well and conceded as well.”

Chelsea started to grow in the game before the Timbers’ decisive goal, while they needed goalkeeper David Raya to make some excellent saves to deny the sixth-placed Blues a point.

Ousmane, Arteta’s former teammate at Everton, added: “I didn’t think there was a big rivalry between the two teams, but Arsenal came out on top and at this stage of the season this is vital, isn’t it?”

“If your strengths are active guys who make things happen all the time, you give them the ball all the time.

“If your strength is set-pieces, you try to win set-pieces and score from them, and they are very good at that, very effective.

“In the end, this was the difference between the two teams, but Arsenal will not care because it is three more points.”

According to Osman, Arsenal can be criticized for their style of play and are often compared to past title winners, but if they win the title, that is all that matters.

“A lot of people who watch football want to see beautiful football or the hardcore ones want to see open play and play great goals up front.” He said.

“This is not always the way football is played. Football is about being effective in the penalty areas, finding a way.

“I think whatever happens between them can be fun, it can be fun, it can be exciting.

“But in the end, it’s less important than what happens in the penalty areas, because that’s where games are won and lost.”