Arsenal 1-4 CHELSEA: Chelsea Stroll At The Emirates?
ARSENAL 1-4 CHELSEA
There was something a little too deja vu for comfort at the start of this game with us struggling to get a touch of the ball as we soaked up some sustained pressure from Arsenal for the first 20 minutes. Petr Cech looked on good form though and was quick off his line when he needed to be.
Then something unusual happened in the 28th minute, Fabregas gave away a free kick and got himself booked for bitching. But obviously there’s nothing unusual about that – no, the unusual bit was Arsenal conceding at the Emirates for the first time since December in the league. The free kick saw Didier Drogba curl it in to Alex, who’s header up under the bar gave Fabianski no chance. 1-0 up then against the run of play but who cares?
Fabregas was lucky not to get himself a second yellow with a bit of a lunge on Malouda just moments later but if that was fortunate from Arsenal’s point of view, the 39th minute wasn’t. Picking up the ball just inside their half, Nicolas Anelka went on a determined run towards Arsenal’s goal, and with everyone in a red shirt seemingly backing off, he lashed a bending 25-yard shot past the keeper.
So, 2-0 up at the break and it was all going surprisingly well for a change. Surely it couldn’t last?
Well, apparently it could because just four minutes into the second half as if to add insult to injury, Ashley Cole went on a run down the left, crossing into the penalty area where he found a very generous Toure waiting to score our third for us.
Petr Cech did some decent work to keep it at 3-0 until the 70th minute when Bendtner headed in Bacary Sagna’s cross to give Arsenal a consolation goal. Adebayor went looking for a penalty instead of staying on his feet in the last five minutes but his poor attempt to fool the officials only bit him on the arse when Chelsea’s subsequent break saw Florent Malouda tap home Anelka’s ricochet off the post. Ok, so it was offside but again, who gives a toss? It might have affected the overall score but the outcome was only going one way from the start of the second half anyway.
So, 4-1 signalled Arsenal’s heaviest defeat at the Emirates and Chelsea’s automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.
Job done.
Filed under: Match Day, Match report
Did you watch the same game as me?!?!?!?
Today was the reason we haven’t won the league for what will be 3 seasons… we got out-passed for the first 30 mins giving up lots of chances and scored from a fortunate setpiece.
We keep sitting back against teams, it makes us look average… if we played a team that could finish instead of a bunch of school kids we woulda been 3-0 down by the time we scored.
The second goal was a moment of magic, the third was fortunate as was the final goal which looked offside…
Arsenal created lots of chances and cech saved us on several occasions.
Our players are too slow and old now.. we rely on punting the ball up field to didier too much and today we got lucky in getting 4 goals and only conceding 1…
I really hope this result (not performance) doesn’t paper over the cracks of our obvious weaknesses and needs in the summer.
Sorry but I think Phil Dowd was truly trying to make up for our disappointment during the week.
Im an honesty person as well as being a fan for 40 odd years.
Drogba dived to get a free kick leading to our first goal and we got all the decisions during the game. Like you said Arsenal were all over us for the first 20 minutes or so. We have Phil Dowd to thank.
Daniel - of course I watched the same game, which is why I acknowledged we couldnt get as much as a sniff of the ball before we scored and that the last two goals were gifts. Fortunately though it was our opposition who werent clinical enough and for a change, we took a couple of our chances. It was a 4-1 win over Arsenal and I don’t know about you but I’ll take that any way it comes.
As for our weaknesses, Hiddink will already be pointing them out for future reference, there isnt much that gets past him.
edit - just realised I missed the ? out of the title
Arsenal showed the purists how to pass the ball at speed and how to attack at speed, but they are inexperienced and inconsistent and have had loads of injuries….on purely football basis they have been the most attractive and consistently attractive team to watch over the past few years, but they need to spend money to enhance the squad…something the frenchman does not like doing.
Love him or hate him, he is a bloody good manager and one of the best.
We have a strong team physically and full of experience, thats how we coped with them and well deserved the victory…but for me to watch football the way arsenal played at times is pure bliss!
who was the dope that said who ever scores first will lose? not today! blues for ever!
For the first two years i.e the first two titles .. all the graft and hardwork was GOOD fun !
However, this win against Arsenal reaffirms a truth about Chelsea or the New Chelsea - We are a very STRONG defensive unit and we build are success from the back line.
And since the football fan’s demands always seem to grow - manifold - I can’t help but wish we did the triangles, flicks and tap-ins more often ..
Whatever style we play - Chelsea rules .. !!