"Who put the ball in the Chelsea net? Half the f*cking team did!" That was just one of the chants that rang out across north London on Tuesday evening as Arsenal fans toasted their glorious 5-0 victory over the Blues. It's worth remembering that this wasn't always comfortable, but once the hosts found their groove, the ease with which a Cole Palmer-less Chelsea laid down was pretty pitiful.

The Gunners scored early through Leandro Trossard, with both teams squandering decent chances to add to the scoreline before the break. Arsenal, though, then firmly took control after the interval. With Martin Odegaard orchestrating everything, Ben White helped himself to a very rare brace, while a delighted Kai Havertz also netted twice against his former club to seal a 5-0 victory.

It's Arsenal's biggest-ever victory over their London rivals, which neatly symbolises the extraordinary gulf between the two teams at present. For Mikel Arteta's side, the result represents a significant statement in the Premier League title race. But for Mauricio Pochettino, it proved that without his star man, his charges simply cannot come close to competing with the division's big boys.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the Emirates Stadium...

WINNER: Declan Rice

For years, it seemed like Declan Rice would end up back at the club that released him as a youngster. In fact, former Chelsea assistant manager Jody Morris even claimed that the Blues let the chance to re-sign him for just £65 million ($80m) slip through their fingers during Frank Lampard's first spell in charge.

This missed opportunity will hurt even more tonight, as the Premier League Player of the Season candidate put in another near-flawless display in the middle of the park for Arsenal. Afforded greater attacking freedom thanks to the return of the brilliant Thomas Partey at the base of midfield, it did not take Rice long to make the most of this license to thrill.

With just over three minutes on the clock, he picked up the ball in space and started trundling forward, before eventually releasing Trossard, who finished powerfully at the front post. This set the tone for a dominant performance, with Rice going close to scoring a first-half goal himself not long after.

And it wasn't just his attacking contributions that were impressive. Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo simply couldn't deal with his physicality, with Rice finishing the game with five tackles and two interceptions. Quite simply, he was immense, showing his boyhood club the error of their ways in the process.

LOSER: Gareth Southgate

It wasn't a good St George's Day for the England manager.... If Gareth Southgate was tuned in at home, he would have watched Ben White put in another accomplished display at right-back and score twice - providing a further reminder of how frustrating it is for the Three Lions boss that he won't be able to call on the Arsenal star's talents for Euro 2024 this summer.

Regardless of what you think of the situation surrounding White's continued indifference to forming part of Southgate's plans, it doesn't take a genius to work out that England would have a significantly better chance of continental glory in Germany if he was with the squad. However, for the moment at least, that just isn't going to happen.

Southgate's misfortune was also compounded by the concerning display Conor Gallagher put in for Chelsea. Wasteful in possession, lacking guile and just generally appearing a little lost, it's hardly the sort of form the England boss will want one of his near-guaranteed squad picks to be exhibiting just a few months out from a major tournament.

WINNER: Martin Odegaard

Odegaard's left foot is inexplicable. On more than one occasion on Tuesday, this writer muttered expletives under his breath, such was the amazement at some of the passes Arsenal's captain managed to pull off. In the end, he completed eight key passes throughout an artistic 90 minutes, continuing his splendid recent form.

The main event, of course, was his assist for Havertz's first goal. Altering his body for a split second to peer around the advancing Gallagher, Odegaard soon returned to his hunched position before unleashing an explosive, 40-yard pass into the path of his German team-mate.

Kevin De Bruyne has made this sort of impossible ball fashionable over the past half-decade or so, but he now has a rival for his status as the Premier League's most entertaining creative force.

LOSER: Arsenal's former transfer targets

Back in January 2023, Arsenal had two main transfer targets: Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo. The duo were seen by Arteta and sporting director Edu as players who could take the Gunners to the next level and keep them on track to win the first Premier League title since 2004 that they so crave.

Fast-forward 15 months, and Mudryk and Caicedo lined-up alongside one another at the Emirates Stadium for the first time, but in Chelsea shirts. The pair cost the Blues a combined £204 million ($256m), and were expected to lead the club into a new era of success. However, things haven't gone to plan for either player, and Arsenal fans must have been watching on Tuesday wondering what all the fuss was about.

Chelsea memorably gazumped Arsenal to sign Mudryk in January of last year, but the Ukraine winger has continually looked a shadow of the player who broke onto the scene in spectacular fashion at Shakhtar Donetsk. Here, he was virtually anonymous on the left-wing having been brought in to replace the absent Palmer, and was replaced midway through the second half.

To make matters worse, the player Arsenal 'settled' for after missing out on Mudryk, Trossard, opened the scoring with the latest in a number of crucial recent goals.

Caicedo, meanwhile, proved too expensive for Arsenal in the middle of last season, but he continues to defy the British-record fee that Chelsea paid for him last summer. He barely broke out of a jog on Tuesday, as Odegaard passed the ball around him as if he were a training cone, while it beggars belief that he cost more than Rice when both were on the market in pre-season. It certainly looks like Arsenal dodged a couple of bullets three windows ago.

WINNER: Kai Havertz

Chelsea fans have had to swallow a lot this season, but near-enough 60,000 Arsenal supporters greeting their third goal of the evening with cries of: "Kai Havertz, he left 'cos you're sh*t" is surely among the worst.

It didn't seem like it was going to be the German's night in the early stages. He passed when he should have shot early on, allowing a massive chance to go begging, and on the various occasions he did pull the trigger, his efforts were poor or Djordje Petrovic was lying in wait.

But after composing himself during the half-time interval, his opportunity finally came. Latching onto Odegaard's perfect through-ball, the German kept his composure and slotted calmly past Petrovic. There was little danger of him adopting the ultra-modern, muted celebration against his former employers, though, and he knee-slid enthusiastically in front of the Clock End.

He celebrated his second goal, an equally-precise finish with less gusto, but by that point he'd proved his point. A significant portion of the Chelsea support greeted his departure with a shrug of the shoulders in the summer, and Havertz is now proving that he would have been worth keeping around.

LOSER: Mauricio Pochettino

Pochettino has not made the best first impression during his debut season in charge of Chelsea, but the recent signs had mostly suggested that the Premier League's youngest team were moving in the right direction.

However, there was always the chance that the Blues were being carried by star man Palmer, and it was in fact the England international who was the most important piece in Chelsea's future jigsaw, not the manager. On Tuesday's evidence, that hypothesis checks out.

Palmer, who has scored 10 goals in his last five Premier League games to vault himself into Golden Boot contention, was always going to be big miss after he was ruled out due to illness, but the way Chelsea fell apart without his influence was extremely concerning.

Conor Gallagher looked a shadow of the player who has led from the front on so many occasions this season, while Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson - among others - lacked any kind of composure in the final third. Pochettino, too, must take some blame for switching out both his central defenders, as Axel Disasi and especially Benoit Badiashile put in disastrous showings while Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah watched on from the bench.

Malo Gusto's injury also forced a chance at right-back, but was this really the match to give Alfie Gilchrist his first Premier League start in? Not only was this Chelsea's heaviest-ever defeat to Arsenal, it was also one that damages their hopes of sneaking into Europe next season. The Blues remain three points behind Newcastle and Manchester United in sixth and seventh, respectively, but both can stretch that gap with wins on Wednesday.

A route into continental competition via the FA Cup has also been closed off this week, and so if Pochettino can't deliver European football with the Premier League's most expensively-assembled squad, does he deserve to remain in charge? Palmer looks like he has been covering over the cracks anyway...