Sunday 20th
January:
Chelsea 2 – 1 Arsenal
The slushy ground partnered with minus temperatures left the
scene at Stamford Bridge far from idyllic, despite the relentless snowfall the
game went ahead and the trains were remarkably running. I imagine fans make a
lot more effort to get to a football game in the snow in comparison to the
commute to work. Chelsea’s home form had been shocking prior to this capital
clash and the deafening boos may have rung out again had Olivier Giroud taking
his glorious chance in the opening minutes.
The game was extremely open; much like the 3-5 spectacle
played out here last season, and as a result Mata controlled Azpilicueta’s
cross before firing home his shot in the sixth minute. The great start could
have got better as the trio of Mata, Hazard and Oscar ran riot in midfield. Things
did get better for Chelsea ten minutes later – Ramires weaved in the box before
going down ‘cleverly’ from Szczesny’s flapping arm and the ref pointed to the
spot.
Up stepped super Frank
Lampard and there was never any doubt he would score. Lampard is now only 7
goals away from Bobby Tambling’s all time record. Such was the timing of the
penalty the fans forgot to clap through Di Matteo’s minute – this partnered
with the much-needed early breakthrough ensured it was an easy afternoon for
Benitez. The managerial booing has been blamed as the reason behind Chelsea’s
poor recent home form.
At risk of exhausting the football cliché that it was a game
of two halves – Arsenal looked like a different team after the break. Arsenal are a good team and 10 minutes of
pressure early in the second half was to be expected, this pressure carried on
until Theo Walcott got himself on the score sheet with little over half an hour
to go. You could sense that the Gunners fancied at least a point from the game.
The midfield that had been run by the terrific trio in the first half was
becoming redder by the minute.
With Arsenal pressing higher and higher the threat of a
possible Chelsea counter attack grew and grew. It was clear that Mata and
Hazard were out of steam and Torres had been a match spectator yet again. Demba
Ba came on with only 10 minutes to go and was instantly sent through and past
Szczesny only for his shot to be blocked off the line from Vermaelen – the
Belgian captain thwarting my 3-1 pre match score prediction. 4 consecutive
Arsenal corners in stoppage time came to nothing and 2-1 is how it ended.
Chelsea have won 3 Premierships, 2 Charity Shields, 4 FA
Cups, 1 League cup and of course 1 Champions League trophy since Arsenal last
got their hands on any silverware. The gunners will do well to finish in the
top 4 this season.
