Chelsea 2 - 1 Arsenal

Sunday 20^th 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.