Table-topper Arsenal converted two free-kicks to beat Chelsea 2-1 on Sunday and set a Premier League record. Arsenal’s 16 goals from corners this season equal the joint-most by any side in a single Premier League campaign.
It is the same tally reached by Oldham Athletic in 1992-93, West Bromwich Albion in 2016-17, and Arsenal itself in 2023-24.
With every set-piece goal, reportedly Arsenal’s set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover gets a special bonus, and his expertise is certainly paying off, with the Gunners opening the scoring from a corner on nine separate occasions this season.
If the records can be kept aside, former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel said Arsenal’s rugby-scrum-like approach to set-pieces is ‘not in the spirit of the game’.
Arsenal has been under the radar for using aggressive blocking techniques, or often leaning into opposition goalkeepers and pushing them during its set-pieces this season.
“All the goals we’ve seen now, all the pushing, shoving and pulling players down, I think we have got to get to the referees now. Every time it happens, give a goal-kick or free-kick and start over.
“You have got like six or seven fouls on every corner kick. It’s not good,” Schmeichel said during the post-match broadcast after Arsenal’s win against Chelsea.
Former Arsenal and Mumbai City FC winger Freddie Ljungberg also said that the amount of physical contact during Arsenal’s set-pieces this season is not something fans would want to watch, because they come to watch the ‘beautiful game’.
Schmeichel also made a strong statement that championships cannot be decided on corner kicks.
ALSO READ: Liverpool manager Arne Slot gets no joy from Premier League’s focus on set pieces
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta shrugged off the backlash and said that: “It is not ugly, you have to play the game that is there for you to play, and against Chelsea, you know exactly the game you are going to play.
“For me, it is a beautiful game to play because there is so much quality and you have to adapt so much to what they do, and they have to do the same against us, so margins are very small and the duels at the end decide these kind of games,” he said after the win against Chelsea.
Former Netherlands national football team coach Jaap Stam, however, had a different perspective. “When teams are up against you, you have to find ways to score differently, which is why set-pieces can help win titles,” said the former Manchester United player.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot said on Monday that he no longer finds most Premier League games a joy to watch with the “new reality” of set-piece goals dominating the competition.
“Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it. Now most of the games I see in the Premier League are not, for me, a joy to watch,” he said.
Arsenal is on a two-match winning streak and will take on Brighton and Hove Albion later this week, while title challenger Manchester City hosts Newcastle United.
Published on Mar 02, 2026
