Havertz scores 2 as Arsenal routs Chelsea 5-0 to cement Premier League lead

LONDON (AP) — Arsenal earned its biggest win ever over Chelsea as Kai Havertz scored twice against his former team in a 5-0 rout on Tuesday that solidified the Gunners' place atop the Premier League standings.

Ben White also got a second-half double against a dismal Chelsea team that collapsed after the break and saw most of the away fans leave Emirates Stadium well before the final whistle.

“It's a great night,” said Arsenal winger Leandro Trossard, who opened the scoring in the fourth minute. “The early goal helped us and after that we played so well. We had a lot of chances and we turned them into goals.”

The win ensures Arsenal will go into the weekend with the league lead. Mikel Arteta's team is three points in front of Liverpool ahead of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Everton. Manchester City is four points back before it plays at Brighton on Thursday, with another game in hand.

For Chelsea, it was another dispiriting loss after a 1-0 defeat to Man City in the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday that ended any hope of finishing a disappointing season on a high note.

Chelsea's leading scorer Cole Palmer was absent with an injury but the manner of the team’s second-half collapse will only renew questions about what progress — if any — the expensively assembled team has made in its first season under Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentine manager said his players “gave up” after Arsenal's third goal and lamented his team's inconsistency throughout the season, with Chelsea languishing 30 points behind Arsenal in ninth place.

“When we have bad days, we are so bad,” Pochettino said.

Arsenal's previous biggest league win over its London rival was 5-1 in 1930.

Pochettino, though, insisted he didn't feel let down by his players' overall effort, pointing to mitigating circumstances such as Palmer's absence, a young starting lineup and fatigue from what he called “an amazing performance” against Man City three days ago.

“I'm not going to blame the players," Pochettino said. “The circumstances are bigger than the performance of the players.”

Trossard gave Arsenal the early lead by beating Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic at his near post from a tight angle. Petrovic made amends by single-handedly keeping his team in the game with a handful of good saves until the floodgates opened in the second half as visitors’ resistance melted away.

White swept home the second in the 52nd and Havertz added the third just five minutes later with a well-taken goal after being teed up by a perfect throughball from Martin Odegaard. The Germany international, who made an expensive move to Arsenal from Chelsea last summer, got another one in the 65th with a shot from the middle of the area, and White added to the rout with a fortunate second goal when his attempt at a volleyed cross sailed into the net in the 70th.

“The second one was a bad touch and it went in,” White acknowledged.

Pochettino responded by bringing on center back Thiago Silva to prevent the scoreline from getting even bigger.

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Chelsea's head coach Mauricio Pochettino gives instructions to his players during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, center, reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Arsenal's Martin Odegaard, left, tries to block a shot from Chelsea's Marc Cucurella during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Arsenal's Kai Havertz, left, scores his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Chelsea's Alfie Gilchrist, left, jumps for the ball with Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyasu during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Arsenal's Ben White, font, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's fifth goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Emirates Stadium in London, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government on Friday loosened some rules governing electric vehicle tax credits, potentially making more EVs eligible for credits of up to $7,500 but leading critics to accuse the Biden administration of helping China.

The Treasury Department announced final regulations for the credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, giving automakers more time to comply with some provisions about where battery minerals can come from.

The credits range from $3,750 to $7,500 for new EVs. There's also a $4,000 credit for used ones.

They're aimed at juicing demand for EVs in an effort to reach a Biden administration goal that half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. This year the credits are available at the time a vehicle is purchased from an authorized dealer rather than waiting for an income tax refund.

Qualifying for the credits depends on a person's income, the price of the vehicles and requirements related to battery makeup and minerals that get tougher each year. To get the credits, EVs must be assembled in North America. Some plug-in hybrids also can qualify.

Starting this year, complex rules are being phased in to promote development of a domestic electric vehicle supply chain. The rules would limit EV buyers from claiming the full tax credit if they purchase cars containing battery materials from China and other nations “of concern” that are considered hostile to the United States. Those include Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Under the final rule, however, small amounts of graphite and other minerals used in batteries would be exempt from the restriction until 2027, because their country of origin is nearly impossible to trace, officials said. Without the exemption, some vehicles that met nearly all of the requirements could get knocked out of tax credit eligibility due to tiny amounts that couldn’t be traced, Treasury said.

The National Mining Association slammed the new exemptions as a giveaway to China.

“Congress created these tax incentives to secure our supply chains and generate American jobs while supporting EV adoption. They did not intend for loopholes to be created that essentially amount to a blank check from the American taxpayer to China,” said Rich Nolan, the mining lobby’s president and CEO.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said that through the new rule, the Biden administration “is effectively endorsing ‘made in China.’ ”

Manchin, who played a key role in passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, said the law specifically prohibits EVs that contain materials from foreign adversaries such as China and Russia from being eligible for the tax credit after 2024. “But now Treasury has provided a long-term pathway for these countries to remain in our supply chains. It’s outrageous and illegal,″ he said.

This year half of the critical minerals in an EV's battery have to be mined or processed in the U.S., or a country with which it has a free trade agreement. Sixty percent of the battery parts have to be made or assembled in North America.

Starting in 2025, batteries with any critical minerals from nations of concern would not be eligible for any tax credits. But after getting comment from the auto industry and others, treasury officials decided to loosen that restriction.

The rule issued Friday is likely to make more EVs eligible for credits in 2025 and 2026, but the auto industry says that's difficult to tell until automakers finish tracing the origin of all the minerals.

“The EV transition requires nothing short of a complete transformation of the U.S. industrial base," John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a large industry trade group, said in a statement. “That’s a monumental task that won’t – and can’t – happen overnight.”

The rule change, he said, “makes good sense for investment, job creation and consumer EV adoption.”

At present, China dominates crucial parts of EV battery supply and production, even as automakers race to establish key mineral and components efforts elsewhere.

Of 114 EV models currently sold in the U.S., only 13 qualify for the full $7,500 credit, the automotive alliance said.

Despite the tax credits, sales of electric vehicles grew only 3.3% to nearly 270,000 from January through March of this year, far below the 47% growth that fueled record sales and a 7.6% market share last year. The slowdown, led by Tesla, confirms automakers’ fears that they moved too quickly to pursue EV buyers. The EV share of total U.S. sales fell to 7.15% in the first quarter, according to Motorintelligence.com.

“The Inflation Reduction Act’s clean vehicle credits save consumers up to $7,500 on a new vehicle, and hundreds of dollars per year on gas, while creating good paying jobs and strengthening our energy security,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

AP writer Daly reported from Washington.

President Joe Biden speaks during a State Dinner at the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 2, 2024, to honor the 2024 National Teacher of the Year and other teachers from across the United States. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., asks a question during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine the president's proposed 2025 Department of the Interior budget on Capitol Hill Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

FILE - A 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E charges, Friday, March 8, 2024, at an electric vehicle charging station in London, Ohio. The U.S. government has loosened some rules governing electric vehicle tax credits a bit, potentially making more EVs eligible for credits of up to $7,500. The Treasury Department announced final regulations for the credits under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act on Friday, May 3, giving automakers more time to comply with some provisions about where battery minerals can come from. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)