Arsenal vs Chelsea: The One That Was Chelsea's Second Win in a Month

Say my name, say my name ...

The first 5 month’s of Chelsea’s title defence can pretty much be summed up like this:

• August - 1 win
• September - 1 win
• October - 1 win
• November - 1 win
• December - 1 win

Looking ahead to January’s games - with Palace, West Brom, Everton and Arsenal all on the horizon, I would have put good money on January’s solitary win to come at The Emirates. But Palace tossed a spanner in the works to kick off the new year and only went and lost in spectacular fashion to Chelsea. They had a number of injuries and not a striker in sight, but it was a resounding loss to Chelsea nonetheless. So what of the Arsenal match? Could Chelsea manage two actual wins in a single month? Based on the 22 matches that preceded Sunday’s late fixture - it seemed like a big ask.

Chelsea may have lost much of their fear factor this season for most teams. But Arsenal are not most teams. Something happens to them when they face Chelsea. Whether they’re over-caffeinated or have an irrational fear of the colour blue they lose any sense of focus and completely bottle it.

That’s not to say Chelsea didn’t deserve the win on Sunday, but without knowing anything about the season to this point, it wouldn’t be the visitors you’d suspect of lagging around 14th.*

Despite the tremendous record Chelsea have against Arsenal at the moment, when the teamsheets became public and the pairing of Mikel and Matic was somehow being trotted out again, I was filled with dread. I thought this was their moment. Arsenal were going to go and do a goal for the first time in almost 10 hours because of a gaping hole in the midfield that Hiddink insists upon.

Unlike their previous matches together, both players managed to stay out of the other's way and play a pivotal role. Mikel, in particular, was excellent at batting away minor attacking threats. But it hasn't changed my mind, they aren’t a pair and shouldn’t be played as such. The success in the midfield had less to do with M&M’s performance than it did with Arsenal doing their job for them.

Big Per no longer in Giroud's circle of trust

Of course, odd lineup decisions weren't limited to just Chelsea. Theo Walcott was given the captain's armband for the game. Theo. Walcott. Sure it's nice that he's been torturing Arsenal with ridiculously drawn out contract extensions for the last decade, but should the armband be handed to him to mark the occasion? And would anyone actually take him seriously?

Lineup hijinks aside, there was a match that got under way. You may not believe me here but *whispers* Chelsea looked fairly organised and played with some purpose. They had some help along the way and arguably could have stood still for large parts of the match and seen the same outcome. But still ...

It only took 18 minutes for Diego Costa to work his Jedi mind tricks on Arsenal's defence and get one of them sent off. Again. Not known to be fleet of foot, Mertesacker did the only thing he could think of to derail a rampaging Costa - the no look tackle. It's unclear whether he was looking for Koscielny's position or making eyes at the linesman for an offside call, but either way it was spectacular. Mertesacker joins a celebrated group of Gunners who've been sent off against Chelsea - some of them down to mistaken identity. He also gave Mark Clattenburg some good early camera time and should expect a thank you muffin basket some time this week.

If the home support needed any reminding of any previous dismissals, the away fans belted out "he's done it again, he's done it agaaaain. Diego Costa, he's done it again." The it, of course, is good old sh*thousery. It has subsequently spawned a petition from said home fans to see Costa banned from any future Arsenal games. No word on whether it will be Starbucks or Cafe Nero taking up the new latte contract.

Arsene Wenger dipped into his bag of tactics tricks to deal with the sending off. He needed another defender on the pitch so brought on Diego Costa's good friend Gabriel. They didn't have the lengthiest of reunions the last time round, so Wenger got them together early on. Bizarrely, it was Giroud who had to make way for Gabriel. While Giroud has yet to score against Chelsea he had hit a run of form this season and would arguably be a bigger threat than captain Theo.

Within minutes of the substitution,  Chelsea went ahead. And of course it was Diego Costa who got the goal, to the absolute delight of Arsenal supporters. Costa generously took a moment to point to the back of his shirt to ensure they knew exactly who the goalscorer was. I suspect they weren't going to forget his name anytime soon, and probably didn't need the reminder. It would be remiss of any notorious latte firm to just forget a large retail coffee chain. But I digress...

Also to delight the home fans, Cesc Fàbregas only went and put in a shift and a half. Costa will draw the ire and the headlines, but it was Fàbregas pulling all the strings. Mikel's calming presence has freed Cesc to do what he does best. He may not be the fastest, but the man can pick out a pass like nobody else. He also doesn't mind getting stuck into the odd tackle. Like Southampton last season, he was denied a penalty to which he replied "it’s not the first time, not the second, not the third [that’s happened]. I’m not surprised anymore. I don’t know why, maybe a coincidence.”

Still crazy in love

Unfortunately, Petr Cech was as fantastic as always. Forced into making a number of good saves because Chelsea only went and had actual shots -- on target! Into injury time he came up for a corner in a heart stopping moment. Headlines were being written. Panic set in. There's a chance that it was just me. But can you even imagine?! Moving on from that he did sprint back to his own goal to take the longest time ever for a goal kick that an opposition keeper in injury time has ever taken. Cheers Pete.

A sidenote here for Loic Remy -- Loic, you want to go. You want first team football. For that, I do not blame you. BUT it's January, prime 'shop window' time. If you want someone who'll let you do more than keep players like Falcao company, you're going to need to do a bit better. Maybe start small, like stay onside. Then move to shots on target. We can talk about goals later.

One final note - I can confirm that Arsene Wenger did in fact shake Guus Hiddink's hand. Because isn't that what everyone normally talks about after this fixture?!

 jb xx



*now 13th - watch out top 10, Chelsea are coming for you

Facts and Figures

• In their last 9 Premier League meetings, Arsenal have picked up more red cards (4) than points (3) against Chelsea
• Arsenal have now failed to score a PL goal against Chelsea in 9 hours and 32 minutes
• Sunday marked the first time Mathieu Flamini started a league game at the Emirates and found himself on the losing side
•  Diego Costa has scored as many goals (6) in his last 6 apps for Chelsea as he had in his previous 26