Imperious Arsenal handed Chelsea a new one
Match Review: Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0 - Premier League 24.09.16
Every now and again, Arsenal pull out an unforgettable performance. Saturday was one of those 'I was there' games; we blew Chelsea away leaving them humiliated and dejected. The away side's ineptitude took nothing away from the sheer brilliance of an Arsenal performance brimming with confidence and hunger. The Emirates was rocking for once and gives you hope that maybe, just maybe, this team could take the next step and mount a serious challenge for that league title we so desperately crave.
Arsène Wenger named an unchanged team from the one that beat Hull the previous weekend and I was initially disappointed at the continued omission of Xhaka and Giroud. I worried that Iwobi would leave Monreal exposed against Willian and that with Alexis up front, we'd have no crossing option and a lack of height for corners at both ends.
Thankfully the Arsenal team sheet has nothing to do with me, as I was proved emphatically and gloriously wrong. Out of nowhere appeared this cohesive and stunningly effective pressing system, with every player busting a gut to make the Chelsea players' lives a misery. Of all the players to have in a system like this, I can't think of many better than Alexis. He's like a little terrier with boundless energy and the first goal was down to his tenacity in closing down Cahill. The England defender took far too long, got robbed by the Chilean and could only trail in Alexis' wake as he lifted the ball over Courtois with ease.
We'd barely had a chance to finish celebrating before the ball was nestling in the back of the net again. This time it was a case of picking apart a bedraggled Chelsea defence. Iwobi helped orchestrate it, as an attack down the left opened up an ocean of space for Bellerin on the right. Hazard failed to track the right back and Iwobi had a simple job to play him in. Bellerin had an even simpler task of squaring the ball to Theo Walcott and he swept the ball into the net. A one-two punch in about four minutes and Chelsea were left reeling.
The third goal was probably my favourite though. Starting with a Chelsea attack breaking down, Mesut Özil utterly ruined Kanté, flicking the ball round him and leaving him for dead and us with a two on two break. David Luiz and Cahill tried to cover Alexis' movement, but he squeezed between them and received a lovely pass from Özil. The German then pulled off the back of the two defenders and received a chipped return from Alexis. Whether or not he meant it hardly matters, because Özil's looping finish ended up in the back of the net and finished Chelsea off for good.
Whilst we didn't score in the second half, we had plenty of scope to and we didn't let up on our domination of the away side. The only downside was losing Coquelin to a knee injury in the first half. Other than that, it was just the perfect performance. Every player was outstanding and did their job brilliantly, from the front three to the back four. The defence was particularly pleasing, as they barely put a foot wrong all night and when they did they covered for each other excellently. Mustafi and Koscielny were so dominant over Costa that the giant man baby had a second half tantrum that resulted in him being booked.
The other aspect that was so pleasing was that this was an absolutely massive game. Man City have started like a freight train, we hadn't beaten Chelsea for god knows how long and our record in big clashes like this has been less than stellar over the last few seasons. So to see us come out and absolutely pump a hated title rival was glorious beyond words. We absolutely have to back it up in the coming weeks and in the major games throughout the rest of the season, but for now I'm content to just bask in the warm glow of Chav sadness and Fabregas being subbed for a left back just after half time. What a night lads, milk it for all it's worth and hope there's plenty more where that came from!
Teams
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin (Xhaka 32'), Cazorla, Iwobi (Gibbs 69'), Özil, Walcott, Alexis (Giroud 79')
Subs
Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Chamberlain, Xhaka, Perez, Giroud
Chelsea (4-1-4-1)
Courtois, Ivanovic (Y), Cahill, Luiz, Azpillicueta, Kante, Matic, Fabregas (Alonso 55'), Willian (Pedro 70'), Hazard (Batshuayi 71'), Costa (Y)
Subs
Begovic, Alonso, Oscar, Pedro, Moses, Chaloba, Batshuayi
Player Ratings
Cech - 10/10 - Prevented Batshuayi from scoring late on
Bellerin - 10/10 - Almost certainly the greatest right back of all time
Mustafi - 10/10 - Ate Costa alive with a superbly aggressive performance
Koscielny - 10/10 - Imperious
Monreal - 10/10 - Made William completely anonymous
Coquelin - 10/10 - Went off with a knee injury, but was part of the brilliant start
Cazorla - 10/10 - Ten times the player Fabregas will ever be
Iwobi - 10/10 - Worked hard, tore Chelsea apart, big time performance
Özil - 10/10 - The greatest man that ever was or will be
Walcott - 10/10 - Looks a different player this year, brilliant performance
Alexis - 10/10 - What a way to mark your 100th appearance for the club
Subs
Xhaka - 10/10 - A good looking guy who plays good looking football
Gibbs - 10/10 - Made a mug of Ivanovic, it was wonderful
Giroud - 10/10 - Didn't do much, but gets 10 for being a perfect 10 anyway
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