This fixture had enough hype pre-match but when the whistle finally blew, it became clear that both teams would fight fiercely to regain the pride lost from their respective prior fixtures which resulted in defeat. Chelsea’s lineup was formidable without Lampard but with a rejuvenated Essien and of course Arsenal’s current nemesis Didier Drogba who seems to score everytime he plays against his North London rivals.
Arsene Wenger employed a midfield consisting of Wilshere, Nasri, Song, Arshavin and pushed Diaby forward to accompany Chamakh. Arsenal started brightly getting much of the possession. Within the first three minutes a corner bounced off the back of Koscienly’s head over the bar from just two yards out. The cup-tie atmosphere and style of end to end play was the order of the day. Intricate passing movements by Arsenal countered by mid range to long ball passes by the Premiership Champions.
The rest of the first half saw useful pressure on the ball by Arsenal with Arshavin having several long range efforts either missing the target or being blocked. Chelsea chose to counter with rapid attacks down both flanks trying to exploit the pace of Malouda and Anelka. Fabianksi had a shaky start but grew in confidence diving at the feet of Anelka and Drogba.
Chelsea opened the scoring after 39 minutes following Ramires won a fifty-fifty ball in midfield and he turned and slid a wonderful ball through to Cole who’s low drive into the near post somehow got turned in by Drogba,
Chelsea 1 Arsenal 0 Drogba 39′
The rest of the first half was played out with Chelsea using bully boy tactics. Tackles by malouda on Sagna and Essien on Diaby could have resulted in either player being seriously injured.
Second Half:
The second half saw Arsenal increase the pressure on Chelsea, and for some fifteen minutes, the Chelsea defence had to work hard to deny Arsenal an equaliser’ There were penalty claims from Chamakh and a deflected shot from Diaby. Arsenal’s Squillaci gifted a back pass to Anelka which the Chelsea striker failed to walk around Fabianski. Ashley Cole netted from an offside position. Arsenal continued their pressure but the Chelsea defence stood firm. Arsenal pushed up the pitch and in their efforts looked likely to concede on the counter. Arsene Wenger’s substitutions of Rosicky for Diaby and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas for Jack Wilshere failed to make an impact. Chelsea defended resolutely and resorted to pure counter attacking leaving Arsenal with lots of possession but no end product. Chelsea put on Ferreira for Ivanovitch and Zhirkov for Ramires. Arsenal’s centre backs were left without the previous cover from Song and a clumsy block by Koscienly on Anelka gave Chelsea’s Alex the opportunity to net an unstoppable free kick from 25 yards which flashed past the diving Fabianski.
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 Alex 85’
Despite the scoreline Arsenal gave their best, but just lacked the necessary quality to stem the blue flow.
As the Chelsea supporters taunted the Gooner faithful by chanting there’s only one team in London, Fabianski prevented Essien from increasing the score.Vela came on for Arshavin and Sturridge for Mikel. The game petered out to yet another disappointing defeat for the Gunners.
Final Result: Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0
Arsenal team: Fabianski Sagna Koscienly Squillaci Nasri Wilshere Song Diaby Arshavin Chamakh.
Subs: Rosicky 70′, J Emmanuel-Thomas 81′ Vela 87′
Arsenal need to be able to beat quality teams like Chelsea if they are to reach their aspirations of getting silverware. But remember, before you criticise this Arsenal team, remember we had several strong players missing, we are not as bad as the result suggests. Keep the faith and with our players all fit we can overcome the top teams. We also need to have consistent decisions from the referees, I really do feel that we were denied a legitimate penalty, but even that would not have won the game. We need Fabregas and Vermaelen and Walcott back, I remain disappointed with Arshavin’s work rate but at least he gave more than his customary 30 minutes this game. Squillaci looked very shaky as a centre back under pressure, and our first team pairing must be Vermaelen and Kosienly. We just need a little more luck and we need to take our chances and the results will start to come our way.
Imagine being a Liverpool fan who lost at home to Blackpool and lie in the bottom three of the table. Man United drew away to Sunderland and look vulnerable, Manchester City are inconsistent so Arsenal fans need to keep the faith and realise that the Premier League title is a marathon not a sprint. We now lie fourth some 7 points behind the leaders but we can win against big teams with our full strength team, and soon the replacements will also step up to the plate. fabianski had a good game by his previous standards, so don’t knock him either. Now is the time to focus and not panic, we are plenty good enough to challenge Chelsea and if Man United fail to improve, we will be heir apparent to at least second place. we can win the league if we can consolidate and correct out weaknesses. I really do believe this. Had we scored within 2 minutes, the outcome of this game would have been different, but now we have to retire and lick our wounds, but keep our pride!
Fabregas the King
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