Leandro Trossard's double helped Arsenal cruise to a dominant 4-0 win over 10-man Ipswich Town at Portman Road, a result which postponed Liverpool's Premier League title celebrations.
The Belgian fired the Gunners ahead early on, slipping the ball past Alex Palmer, before Gabriel Martinelli extended their lead just before the half-hour mark.
Ipswich’s day went from bad to worse shortly after when Leif Davis was sent off for a late challenge on Bukayo Saka, leaving the hosts with a mountain to climb.
Trossard completed his double in a one-sided affair with a fine finish in the 69th minute, while Ethan Nwaneri’s heavily deflected strike beat a helpless Palmer for Arsenal's fourth with two minutes remaining.
By cutting the gap at the top to 10 points ahead of Liverpool's match at Leicester City, Arsenal will make the leaders wait until Wednesday at the earliest to become champions.
Meanwhile, Ipswich remain 18th, 15 points adrift of safety with only 15 points left to play for.
How the match unfolded
The Gunners dominated the opening exchanges, and after seeing an early effort blocked, Trossard made swift amends, sliding a low finish into the bottom corner while off-balance, 14 minutes in.
Mikel Merino nearly added a second goal soon after, glancing a header from a corner just over, but the Spaniard turned provider in the 28th minute with a sumptuous backheel flick to set up Martinelli to double Arsenal’s advantage.
Matters quickly worsened for Ipswich as Davis was shown a straight red card just past the half-hour mark when he caught Saka's right leg from behind with his studs.
Though Ipswich teased some promise through George Hirst’s narrow miss, Arsenal picked up where they left off after the break.
Palmer twice denied Martin Odegaard before Trossard put the final nail in the coffin with a clinical finish from a tight angle on the left side of the box, firing through Cameron Burgess’s legs.
Substitute Nwaneri then added a fourth goal late on as his strike from inside the box took a heavy double deflection to wrongfoot Palmer and consign Ipswich to their 20th loss of the season.
Ipswich’s Portman Road pain persists as relegation closes in
Kieran McKenna’s side would have taken plenty of confidence from their 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last weekend, but it was a significantly less enjoyable outing on Sunday.
From the first whistle, the Tractor Boys looked off the pace. Arsenal’s quickfire two-goal lead inside 30 minutes set the tone, and Davis’ sending-off only made matters worse, forcing the hosts to play with 10 men for more than an hour with stoppage time added.
Julio Enciso showed a flash of promise early on, bursting past Declan Rice, but Ipswich laboured through a difficult first half with little else to cheer.
Aside from small hints of their attacking potential, Ipswich never looked like truly threatening David Raya’s goal as they fell to a seventh straight Premier League home loss in 2025, matching their combined total from the previous two years.
Now, 15 points adrift of 17th-placed West Ham United with only 15 points to play for, relegation looks all but assured. With tougher tests lying ahead, McKenna will be hoping for a better showing for their trip to Newcastle United next Saturday.
High-flying Gunners put on a show
Fresh from silencing the Santiago Bernabeu in some style, en route to their first Champions League semi-final since 2009, Arsenal came into Sunday’s affair brimming with confidence.
And it showed right from the outset as Mikel Arteta’s side dominated the proceedings at Portman Road.
Trossard’s early blocked shot was a warning sign as he soon opened the scoring, while Merino nearly doubled the lead when he glanced a header just wide from a pinpoint Saka corner.
With their one-man advantage, the Gunners put on a clinic and began to turn the screws on Ipswich. Saka, central to much of their attacking play, saw a flurry of good chances go begging across the first half.
He first bent an effort just wide of the far post in the 36th minute before firing off target again following a sublime through-ball from Merino that left him with just Palmer to beat.
Saka came close once again before the break, steering a low shot just inches wide from Trossard’s centre, but exited the second half to sit on the bench with an ice pack on his right ankle, which Arteta will be hoping is not seriously hurt.
The Gunners took their foot off the accelerator in the second half, with Trossard and Nwaneri having sealed the win.
Arteta’s side host Crystal Palace on Wednesday before rounding off April with a blockbuster European showdown against Paris Saint-Germain at Emirates Stadium.
Match officials
Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Dan Cook, Richard West. Fourth official: Tom Nield. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Steve Meredith.
