It is Arsenal's first corner kick of the match, and the Emirates Stadium erupts. It is a familiar scene in North London; when their team has a corner kick in their favor, it is celebrated as if it were a penalty. The Gunners crowd the goal, on the goal line, trying to bother Robert Sanchez as much as possible, but as Noni Madueke prepares to take the kick, an unexpected movement occurs.

Malo Gusto, Liam Delap, and Jorrel Hato sprint out of the box, forcing Arsenal to react. Eberechi Eze, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Zubimendi run out to chase them, and the tactic that has yielded so many goals for Arsenal in recent seasons suffers a setback.

In the last year and a half, that is, since the start of the 2024/25 season, Arsenal has scored 53 goals from set pieces, thirteen more than any other team in the Premier League.

Their way of interpreting football has caused controversy, with accusations that they play boring football and base their success on set pieces, but it has also drawn praise, because Arsenal is in contention for all trophies. They lead the Premier League with a six-point advantage over Manchester City, they have won all their Champions League matches, they are League Cup finalists, and are in the fourth round of the FA Cup. It seems only a matter of time before this team lifts a trophy for the first time since 2020, and set pieces, especially corner kicks, have played a key role.

And Liam Rosenior, Chelsea manager, may have found the antidote for it. Other teams, like Monaco and Aston Villa, have already tried it, leaving several players upfield and not allowing Arsenal, led by set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, to crowd ten players into the six-yard box, but Chelsea went a step further.

The key on the Blues' drawing board was the element of surprise. Madueke was already starting his run-up to strike the ball when Delap, Malo Gusto, and Hato took off running upfield. This was the decoy maneuver that thwarted Arsenal's corner.

There are still aspects to perfect, but the league may have finally found a way to counter a technique that has served the Gunners well in recent years and could, in the coming months, lead to their first Premier League title in over two decades.

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