Here we are, back to the Premier League stage, and the venue is Stamford Bridge… home of The Blues. Another London Derby to navigate.
I’m sure that MANY will disagree, but I think it’s harder for London teams to win the league, because of all the derbies.
Every season, Arsenal face Brentford, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Chelsea…aaaaand, errr…I feel like I’m forgetting someone… ah yes…Tottenham. They’re extremely forgettable, so it’s easily done.
The intensity in these games though, takes A LOT out of the players… Physically, and mentally… and each London team, has to do this SIX TIMES!!
This isn’t a complaint, or an excuse, for any future slip-ups… I’m merely stating the facts, that underline my “It’s harder for London teams to win the league” statement.
By the way, under Mikel Arteta… The Arsenal have only lost three of their forty derbies in the Premier League. A fantastic record!!
Chelsea this season are somewhat of a puzzle. As soon as you think you’ve figured them out, they surprise you. They’re a young team, but have a lot of players in their squad, who have played at the very top level.
I look at Chelsea, and see a team with great potential.. (I threw up in my mouth a little, after admitting that) … potential that I hope they don’t realise.
The games I think Chelsea will win, they lose….and they games I think they’ll lose, they win. Hence why I called them a puzzle… I just cannot figure them out.
This is 1st vs 3rd in the Premier League, and The Arsenal have to remind this young Chelsea team, that they’re up waaaaay past their bedtime, and it’s time for them to get tucked in.
Chelsea come into this game on the back of a good win against Barcelona, and The Arsenal come into this game, on the back of mauling Bayern Munich.
Both teams will be confident, and both teams will want to have the derby bragging rights. It’s all set up, for a bruising encounter.
Our starting lineup was David Raya in goal, Calafiori at left-back…and it was a new look central defence, as Saliba took a knock in training, and couldn’t play.
It was an untested centre-back pairing of, Piero Hincapie, and Cristhian Mosquera.
Now, both players are excellent defenders… but both of them playing together for the first time, away to an IN FORM Chelsea, with no Gabriel, or Saliba, in sight… worried me. No, it scared the living daylights out of me. There… the truth set me free.
Oh yes, and the incredible Jurrien Timber, of course… continued at right-back.
The midfield was Rice, Zubimendi, and Eze… and we went with a front three of Martinelli on the left, Merino through the middle, and Saka on the right.
Gabriel Jesus was on the bench. He hadn’t been in the matchday squad, since January.
Really good to see him back!
Chelsea started the game A LOT better than we did. They were first to the ball, they were more aggressive, and they looked sharper than us.
There seemed to be a level of uncertainty in our play, and I believe it was down to us not having at least one of our main centre-backs.
Rice, and Zubimendi, looked reluctant to carry the ball forward, or pass the ball forward quickly, as they didn’t entirely trust the defence behind them, so didn’t want to leave them unprotected.
As they couldn’t do what they usually do in the midfield, it prevented us from building our attacks, as efficiently as we usually do.
That reluctance, uncertainty, and a little nervousness… echoed throughout the team.
Chelsea were clever in their approach, as they constantly committed little fouls, just to further disrupt our rhythm, and naturally… we fouled them back, and before we knew it, we got sucked into a game that we didn’t want to play.
We played the type of game Chelsea wanted to play, and not our own game… which has taken us top of the table, in both the Premier League, and in the Champions League.
Most of the battle took place in the midfield, so there was very little goalmouth action.
Saka had a couple of shots saved early on, but they were comfortable saves for the keeper.
It was a very tight game, with very little space, and time, on the ball.
Chelsea also had a couple of shots, that were also comfortable for David Raya.
The game wasn’t much of a spectacle, and was very much.. stop-start-stop-start. The referee loved, and adored his whistle, and tried his very best, to make the game about him.
In the 38th minute, the referee got to blow his beloved whistle once again, and rightly so this time… after a disgusting tackle by Moises Caicedo, on Mikel Merino.
Caicedo jumped into the tackle, and could’ve easily of broken Merino’s ankle. It was rash, reckless, and ridiculous.
The referee matched Caicedo’s ridiculousness, by initially only showing him a yellow card.
After VAR prompted the ref to review the incident on the monitor, he thankfully changed the yellow card, to a red one. Cheerio Caicedo.
With Chelsea now down to ten men, I expected us to end the half 1-0 up, at the very least… but that’s not the way things went, AT ALL.
The sending off seemed to galvanise Chelsea, and they started to defend better, and looked incredibly dangerous on the counter-attack.
The first half finished 0-0, and was probably a fair reflection of a bitty, scrappy, bruising half.
I’m sure Arteta would’ve demanded more from the players at half-time, because we didn’t play well, and Chelsea were the better team. (YUCK!)
The second half started pretty much the way the first half ended… with Chelsea in the ascendency. (I’m sick to my stomach, having to compliment them so much)
In the 48th minute, Chelsea earned a corner, that Reece James took. He put a good ball in, that was met by the head of Trevoh Chalobah, who unfortunately… headed the ball past David Raya.
Chelsea were 1-0 up. (BOOOOOOOOOO!!!)
The Arsenal, were undone… by a set-piece. The irony was suffocating.
We reacted in the right way, and started to move the ball quicker. Passes became more accurate, and we looked more threatening. It’s like we suddenly remembered that we’re the best team in the league, have the best record in London Derbies, and haven’t lost to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, since 2018.
For all our endeavours, we were still unable to break down the stubborn ten men of Chelsea. They defended doggedly, and with unwavering determination.
In the 57th minute, Arteta made some changes.
Martinelli made way for Madueke, and Zubimendi was replaced by Odegaard.
The substitutions gave us a different dimension, and helped us launch our attacks…and in the 59th minute… we had lift-off.
Odegaard played the ball out to Saka on the right flank, and he was closely marked by the Chelsea right-back, Marc Cucurella.
Saka turned him, twisted, turned again.. this way, and that way… did a faint… dropped the shoulder, and put a great ball into the box. Spare a thought for Cucurella… whose legs were in a knot, and who was sent for refreshments against his will… due to Saka’s mesmerizing skill.
Saka’s cross was headed in masterfully, by Mikel Merino. GOOOOOOAAAAAAL!!!
Arsenal equalised… and we deserved it too! We played much better in the second half.
We pushed for the winner, but their keeper made some good saves.
In the 72nd minute, Eze made way for Viktor Gyokeres… who looked visibly rusty, after just returning from injury.
The rest of the league are in trouble, once Gyokeres, Odegaard, Martinell, Madueke, and Gabriel Jesus, all get back up to speed, and regain that match sharpness.
We still have Kai Havertz to return too… and I cannot wait!
We definitely missed Trossard in this game. His guile, and ability to make things happen, was perfect for this match.
It finished 1-1, and at the final whistle, the Chelsea fans roared like they had won the game. I’m not sure if their fans understand how wins against Arsenal work… which is understandable, considering they’ve only beaten us once, in the last 12 times we’ve played them.
Our 6 point gap over them remains intact, we’ve increased our lead over Manchester City to 5 points too.
In a week that saw us obliterate Tottenham, and dismantle Bayern Munich… the magnitude of those games of course took a lot out of the players… and it showed in this game. They deserve massive credit, for the fact that they were able to leave Stamford Bridge with a point… without our main centre-backs, and without playing particularly well.
We take that point, and we move on.
Brentford at home next. Let’s hope we can sting The Bees… I’ll be buzzing if we can do that!
COYG!!
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