I almost felt like Russell Crowe when the final whistle blew, shouting ‘are you not entertained’ but by Jove it was a white knuckle ride. I joked with my sons at the end of the game online saying ‘now you know why I look so old’ – that’s what being an Arsenal fan does to you – and it’s amazing.
The result at White Hart Lane was still fresh in the memory as was the disaster at Molineux, that’s how it is when Arsenal are that close to reaching paradise, it’s tough love. I’ve only seen Arsenal get it over the line early a couple of times, 1997/98 and 2003/04, the rest have been nip and tuck. This season has nip and tuck written all over it – so prepare yourself.
The players needed the fans with them today, they needed the crowd to be strong and supportive even as the anxiety gnawed away at their composure. Even so during the game Arteta turned to the fans sitting behind him and asked them to calm down, it wasn’t an angry response by Mikel but a plea for them to stay with the players and support the team and to be fair they did just that.
The early exchanges seemed to point towards a Chelsea manager and staff that had worked really hard on how to not only stop Arsenal but also to show a different face to the one exhibited in the League Cup recently. To me it seemed as if Rosenior was keen to show that he can coach a team to take on Arsenal and in fairness they did all that.
On the 10th minute Sarr got free at a free kick and only a lack of technique stopped him from opening the scoring, although he was probably off-side. It was a warning that Arsenal by and large heeded during the rest of the 1st half. The damp surface saw a few players slipping and sliding but on the 15th minute Arsenal won possession as Chelsea pushed forward and Eze from the halfway line almost pulled off a spectacular finish but Sanchez got back. So close! Shame the officials missed the fact that the ball crossed the line and we should have had a corner.
Then, the opening goal on the 21st minute as Bakayo Saka drove a great cross towards the far post and Gabriel, despite Reiss James holding him, got to the far post and rose to head the ball back into the box where Saliba got in front of Gyokeres to head home. Up until then Eze had been on his game, linking play but maybe not getting that slice of space to turn a good build up into a shot on goal. He was linking up really well with the hard working duo of Gyokeres and Saka showing the possibilities of that partnership. Variety is the spice of life someone once said and I like this variety.
Then on 31 minutes Zubimendi inadvertently gave a suicide pass back to Raya, I don’t know what he was thinking but he has these in his locker during a game but Raya saved the day. Then on 33 minutes the industrious Trossard went on a lung busting run into the heart of the Chelsea backline and set up Eze who was loitering around the penalty spot but unfortunately Eze was quickly shut down and the opportunity was gone.
By the 39th minute I felt that the Gunners hadn’t quite made the most of their many attacking scenarios and that always leaves us vulnerable. We still aren’t ruthless enough or efficient enough in killing games off. On the 43rd minute Gyokeres again ran at the Chelsea defence and as he turned inside he was clipped and went down. Soft? Possibly. A penalty? I’ve seen them given against us – but Viktor doesn’t enjoy many positive decisions from referees. Then 4 minutes later in added time a Chelsea flurry of pressure saw them rewarded when a James corner drilled into the Arsenal box which was accidentally headed into his own net by Hincapie, a disaster for the Ecuadorean who was playing really well. Half-time 1-1
My internet connecting disappeared until just over the hour mark so with Martinelli on at 56 minutes for Trossard. The influence of Eze had lessened and I was looking to see Havertz come on for Ebbs as Chelsea pushed forward confidently.
Then another corner on 66 minutes and a Declan Rice belter into the box was headed home by Timber and despite a VAR review it stood and we had just over 25 minutes to hang on. On 70 minutes a Chelsea break saw a chasing Rice limping slightly (oh please no) but he continued until the 76th minute and was replaced by Norgaard. Havertz came on also, but for Gyokeres. Declan seemed ok at the end of play.
Neto, who had been booked minutes earlier then recklessly brought down Martinelli and the second yellow brought forth the red and off he went, moaning all the way. That’s now 7 red cards for Chelsea in the EPL, 9 in total – it’s a recurring disciplinary problem. A nice combination after a poor Sanchez clearance saw Saka put in Havertz but his effort was smothered. A few Chelsea players began going to ground easily and I did wondered if this was a ploy to even things up? On 80 another smart counter saw Eze again in on goal but his shot lacked a bit of zip and Sanchez saved. On 87 minutes with Arsenal game managing Caicedo had a drive that flew over the bar – it was a reminder!
6 minutes added time went up and Chelsea threw the kitchen sink at us, they were playing better with 10 men than when they had 11, I guess it’s all that practice. Arsenal needed that elusive 3rd goal then on 93 minutes Raya pulled off a great save from a corner. It was relentless then on 95 Chelsea thought they had it, Delap following up from another great Raya save stabbed the ball home but his celebrations choked in his throat as he saw the linesman’s flag raised – phew!
That was that, the final whistle saw Arteta inflict on Rosenior his first Premier League defeat. That’s three successive wins for Mikel over the new Chelsea boss, but there’s going to be a lot of these tense battles to come in future I reckon. I did wonder why with so much aerial threat towards the end of the game why Mikel didn’t bring on Calafiori and Mosquera to freshen up the defence and add some inches to it , but hey, that’s Mikel for ya.
We now go to Brighton in midweek for another titanic 90 minutes and….
We march on….
**By Kev**