The fact that Chelsea managed their first shot on target in the 82nd minute against Arsenal in a crucial London derby is in itself a fair reflection of the match. Chelsea found themselves down and out within the first 15 minutes when they saw England defender Gary Cahill conceding yet another error (his first one came against Swansea) and gifting the opportunity to Alexis Sanchez whose calm and composed finish should have been a sign of things to come for Chelsea. Chelsea, haven’t learned their lesson this entire season, let alone only within a span of 4 minutes. Walcott found himself at the end of a beautiful move to put the Gunners 2-0 ahead. Chelsea tried to press higher up the pitch, which only lead to another Arsenal goal on the counter, this time from the foot of Mesut Ozil in the 40th minute. Chelsea came in to the second half with damage control in mind and managed to do so, limiting the Gunners to only 3 without bothering their former captain Petr Cech.
This is Antonio Conte’s 2nd Premier League defeat. The Blues have finally lost to Arsenal since October 2011 and that record is finally out of the way, very much to the liking of Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger. It wasn’t a question of tactical errors that haunted Chelsea, when you do come to the Emirates, a lot of teams will look to sit back and counter Arsenal and their free flowing football. It’s just that this time around the Blues severely missed their captain John Terry.
To further add to the misery, Cahill is unarguably in the worst form of his life. He just seems like a really different (weaker) player without Terry alongside him to marshal the troops. Ivanovic was however even weaker in performance than Cahill, getting caught in possession, not crossing the ball or stringing up passes. If Conte thought that Chelsea were anything but miserable in the draw against Liverpool a fortnight ago, he would have been surprised to see how faulty was his team this time around. Hazard couldn’t show the spark he did two seasons ago, Costa went rambling with minimal touches inside the box, Cesc who had gained the confidence of his manager with 2 goals against Leicester in midweek couldn’t perform against his old club, Kante looked lack lustered and baffled at times, out of ideas or players to feed.
Arsenal however have now moved into 3rd place behind Spurs. The Gunners came out all guns blazing and with their wave after wave of relentless pressure, attacks and fluid ball passing, it wasn’t a surprise they managed to net in two within just 15 minutes. Arsene Wenger would be content to finally have beaten the Blues since 2011. The Gunners looked strong on both fronts, Bellerin provided the most assists by any defender since the last season (6). Walcott seems to be firing again, scoring in his third consecutive appearance. All in all Arsenal played to their vision and their philosophy against Chelsea, who need to reassess their starting lineup as things can quickly get out of hands in Premier League.
