ARSENAL ..................... 0
CHELSEA ..................... 1
Two of the biggest clubs in England came face to face at the Emirates Stadium on Matchday 8 of Season 6. Both clubs ply their trade in the capital and both clubs have aspirations to reach the top and become the Champions. In the blue corner are Chelsea. Going into this game they lie 6th in the table with 12 points from 7 games.
In the first four seasons of the competition they hadn't finished worse than 4th and have been runners-up twice however last season it all went wrong for the London side as they finished a lowly 12th, not good enough for their demanding fans, and their Italian manager Giovanni Cabrioli is under pressure to deliver at least a Champions Cup place this season or he could be getting a call from the chairman. A plunge into the transfer market has seen Giovanni bring in goalkeeper Cillessen, Daniel Sturridge and young Spaniard Lopez Jaunmi. The purchase of Sturridge was certainly a message to the rest of the league that Chelsea mean business.
In the red corner we have Arsenal and manager Dave T. The Gunners are lying 4th with 14 points from 7 games and are looking to improve on that as the season progresses. Their league record is no where near as consistent as Chelsea with their best finish being 6th place in season 3. The last two seasons have seen Arsenal finish in 7th which will not be regarded as good enough for the fans. Left sided player Aleksander Kolarov was the only big purchase by Dave during the close season, with the squad from last season staying intact.
Last season, Arsenal won this fixture by 1-0 which made it the double after winning at Stamford Bridge 3-2 so Chelsea have plenty of incentive to win this one and show that this season could be the one they deliver a championship.
The superb Emirates Stadium is full with 60,355 fans all set for a London derby that promises to be a cracker. The Arsenal fans, not known for their noise, are trying to get the atmosphere going while the 3,000 Chelsea fans were in fine voice, taunting the home fans about their reputation for being quiet. The team sheets have been delivered to the press box and it looks like Dave T has went for a 4-2-2-2 with a defensive approach at the start of the match while Cabrioli is going for the standard 4-4-2 and will likely look to counter attack. The teams are:
ARSENAL: Szczesny; Stolarski, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Defour, Alonso(c); Walcott; Wilshere; Afobe, Giroud.
CHELSEA: Koval; Zapata, Rolando, Cahill, Badstuber(c); Lichtsteiner, Lemoine, Mikel, Martins; Ibrahimovic, Aboubakar
The teams were already out on the park Arsenal to the left and Chelsea to the right. Captains Alonso and Badstuber were in the centre with the referee and it was Arsenal who got us underway with young Afobe, getting his first start with the Gunners, and Giroud kicking off. The ball was laid back to Defour who sent it up the sideline towards Walcott but the ball went out for a throw to Chelsea. The start was quiet as the teams sparred, looking for any weaknesses in their opponents defence but to be honest, both sides were looking quite solid at the back. It was all quiet for the two goalkeepers who had nothing to do in the early stages. The first concerted attack came on 10 minutes and it was the visitors who had the best effort so far. Cahill had it halfway between the Chelsea box and the halfway line and he sent a wonderful angled ball to Lichtsteiner going down the right hand side. As Gibbs advanced to challenge for the ball, Lichtsteiner timed it perfectly to nod the ball past Gibbs and run on advancing to just outside the area. With a look up, he sent a shot that was curling into the far post forcing Szczesny into a dive that seen him get a hand to the ball and turn it away for a corner. Martins corner was to close to Szczesny and the keeper grabbed onto the ball. Could Arsenal respond was the question and they did on 15 minutes when Wilshere broke down the left into the danger area before being upended by Rolando. Free kick to Arsenal just wide of the Chelsea box and the chance to test the Chelsea defence at set pieces. Walcott sent a teasing cross towards the far post where Giroud had run in on the blind side. Giroud sent a powerful header towards goal that had the Arsenal faithful out their seats but Koval got his hands to it and turned it over for a corner. The corner was cleared but at least that brought the Arsenal fans to life. The game's tempo had risen as Chelsea hit back again. There was 17 minutes on the clock when Badstuber sent a crossfield ball to Lichtsteiner and, again, the Swiss internationalist had only one thing on his mind as he again sent a curling shot towards the Arsenal goal. Szczesny was ready for it this time and had positioned himself in order to get down and save, grasping the ball into his body. Chelsea were getting a lot of possession now and when Lichtsteiner again came down the wing he seemed to run the ball out of play before Gibbs came in with a tackle that made sure the ball was out. The ref gave the throw in to Chelsea, something that Gibbs wasn't happy about as he shouted towards the official. The referee was having none of that and he brandished the yellow card in Gibbs direction.
Action from the Emirates
On 20 minutes it was Chelsea on the attack again and the ball was once again give to Lichtsteiner, who was causing Arsenal all the problems. Lichtsteiner attacked and skipped by Gibbs, who was having to be careful after his booking, before sending a low cross that Aboubakar met first time and sent a shot heading straight for the top corner only for Szczesny to leap to his left and turn it away. Great save from the keeper that was a lot harder than he made it look. The game seemed to go into a lull as any attacks were snubbed out with either a good tackle or broke down with a wayward pass. Chelsea were still having most of the ball but Dave T had obviously sent instructions that tweaked the defence and was now doing well at stopping the supply to Lichtsteiner. Arsenal weren't having much joy as they tried to break down Chelsea and the game had become stuck in a rut. On 39 minutes Arsenal almost made the breakthrough when Defour, who was marshalling the Arsenal midfield, fed Wilshere and the midfielder managed to outmuscle the Chelsea defence, making enough space to be able to try and place the ball pass Koval, who done well to spread himself and block the effort allowing Cahill to clear. Again Arsenal came forward but Walcott was forced into a harmless long range effort. The referee brought the first half to an end soon after and a first half, that more resembled a chess match, was brought to an end.
HALF TIME: ARSENAL 0 CHELSEA 0
The teams came out for the second half with no changes made to either side. It was difficult to judge just what the managers had said to their teams with both maybe content with the scoreline although Dave T will have been looking for a little more invention up front. Chelsea kicked off and not only was there no change in the line ups, there wasn't much change in the play with Chelsea again having the edge on possession. Arsenal were trying to show more urgency on the ball but the final pass was missing. 13 minutes had passed in the second half when Lemoine had the ball just inside his own half, looking for an outlet that could launch an attack. Giroud obviously thought Lemoine was having far too much time to decide where to pass and launched in with a tackle that brought Lemoine crashing to the ground. It wasn't the referees most difficult decision of the day as he took the name of the Arsenal striker before holding the yellow card aloft.
One of 5 yellows given out by the referee
Again Chelsea played the ball forward towards Lichtsteiner but Gibbs was in quickly to nick the ball away and played it to Defour. The Belgian midfielder then played it direct to Afobe. The Chelsea defence were right on his case and Afobe was forced wide of the goal. With all the skill of a veteran, Afobe managed to turn and get enough space to send a cross into the middle where Alonso controlled it before releasing a shot that made Koval dive across and tip the ball away for a corner. That was Arsenal's best move of the game and the direct back to front could be a good policy. Koval grasped the corner much to the annoyance of the Arsenal fans who were seeing their corners being of low standard. 63 minutes showed on the clock as Chelsea came forward once more. Mikel, who had been struggling to get into the game, played the ball out to Martins, but before the wide man could turn and advance, Afobe clattered into him and sent him tumbling. It was definitely a forwards tackle but the ref decided not to take that into account and Afobe became the third Arsenal player to go into the book. The free kick was about 25 yards out on the left hand side and surprisingly, Ibrahimovic was the man to take it. The Swedish legend swung the ball into the danger area where it was met by Aboubakar, whose header flew past Szczesny but also just wide of the goal. To the fans on the far side that must have looked as though it was going in the net. The game was hitting a new level with both sides finding more space. A look at the benches seen no movement as both managers were seemingly happy with what was happening on the park. Again the final passes were going astray as defences were getting on top and the longer it went, the more likely it looked as though the first goal would settle this one. Chelsea looked the more dangerous and they were on the attack again on 78 minutes. With the Lichtsteiner avenue firmly closed, they were now favouring going down the left. Lemoine was starting to boss the midfield and his ball out to the left sent Martins on his way once again. Stolarski came forward to challenge but a quick shuffle of the feet and Martins was away towards the touchline. This pulled Mertesacker towards him and out of position and Martins timed it perfectly to reach the bye line and pull the ball back to the centre of the box where Aboubakar took just one touch before firing the ball high into the roof of the net with Szczesny only managing to get the tips of his fingers to the ball. The Chelsea end of the ground went wild as the players rushed to congratulate Aboubakar. Cabrioli was off his bench and had his hands in the air. This could be a goal that could shape their season and he knew how important it was. The players made their way back to their own for the restart with the dejected Arsenal players wanting to get on with it.
Chelsea players celebrate Aboubakar's goal
Arsenal attempted to hit back immediately but again the final pass wasn't good enough and Chelsea cleared their lines. The visitors had the ball in midfield as Mikel picked it up but just as he tried to send the ball out wide once more, Defour was late with a tackle that the referee didn't like and Defour was the next yellow for Arsenal bringing their total to four. Mikel was helped off the field but whether that was a timewasting tactic was unsure as the tackle didn't seem that bad. The free kick was hardly taken when Mikel was waved back on the field. The ball was played forward to the goalscorer, Aboubakar. The Cameroon player laid the ball back to the now free-running Mikel, who split the defence with a pass back into Aboubakar's run, putting him clear and as Szczesny came towards him he tried to roll the ball passed him only for the keeper to get down quickly and turn the ball away to safety. That would have been the killer goal but Szczesny saved the day. With 5 minutes left Arsenal came searching for the equaliser. Mertesacker moved forward with plenty of room before picking out Alonso with a pass. The Spanish veteran looked up and went for a long range effort, all of 30 yards, that Koval got his body behind to save comfortably. Alonso's team mates were not impressed with that and the crowd weren't that enthralled either apart from the cheer from the Chelsea fans. Another foray forward from Arsenal with 2 minutes remaining seen the ball sent to Afobe. The Arsenal striker done well to turn Badstuber with the German then reaching out and pulling Afobe back, a move that seen him go into the referees notebook. Walcott and Alonso were round the ball, which was about 21 yards from goal, as they pondered on how to approach it. It was Walcott that decided to give it a try and he fired a low free kick that zipped across the turf, flying inches wide with Koval beaten. An escape for Chelsea and a great effort from Walcott. Arsenal were running out of time as Chelsea took route A to get the ball forward with Martins running the ball into the corner. Eventually, Stolarski managed to get the ball from him and tried to launch an attack that the Chelsea defence easily mopped up. The ref put his whistle into his mouth and blew for full time. Chelsea players had their arms in the air, knowing this was a big win for them. They had a spring in their step as they left the field, shaking hands with the Arsenal players who were a bit slower to leave the park. Dave T moved over to shake hands with Cabrioli as the Arsenal fans headed for the exit. Chelsea fans stayed to cheer their heroes, delighted at the three points.
The win moves Chelsea up to 4th place, three points behind leaders West Ham while Arsenal slip down to 7th. This was a tight game that always looked as though it would be settled by one goal and Chelsea probably just deserved to win. They caused Arsenal more problems at the back and were able to switch from attacking down the right with Lichtsteiner to attacking down the left with Martins once that avenue was closed.
This was a big win for Chelsea, who are now unbeaten since that shock 3-0 opening day defeat to Reading. Giovanni has them playing with discipline and he has shored up the defence that was leaking goals in the first 2 or 3 games. He has a good depth of squad and if you think that players like Torres, Marchisio and Negredo weren't playing and Sturridge is injured then you can see that Chelsea are going to be in the fight all the way. They now play Blackburn at the Bridge before travelling to play Everton and there is a good chance they can get 6 points from they 2 fixtures and might only be a matter of time until they are sitting at the top. Can they win the league? They have a good chance and I wouldn't think it was a surprise if come the end of the season Chelsea were the champions.
Arsenal will be disappointed not to get anything from this one and I don't think they came close to their best form. The worrying thing for Dave T is that they have scored the fewest goals of the sides that make up the top 8 and he will have to hope the strikers can get their act together and start scoring a few goals. If the present vain continues then there is no way they will be in contention for the title come the last few games of the season. Arsenal now travel to Fulham for another London derby before taking on Tranmere at home. They will be looking to take the points at Fulham and on current form will expect to beat a struggling Tranmere side that haven't got into their stride so far. If they take the six points then that should put them back among the top sides. If they drop points in these games then, unless the attacking problems are solve, it will be a struggle to finish in the top ten.
Fannie Licker @ The Emirates, London
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