CHELSEA 6 ARSENAL 0 PREMIER LEAGUE With first in the league taking on third and the side with the best home record hosting the side with the best one away, Chelsea and Arsenal will have both been determined to stamp their authority on this game right from the off. It made the start to the game both open and lively. Szczesny came for a low ball and just made contact before the alert Etoo could and Schurrle was hauled up by a close offside call. Then Petr Cech had to dive low to keep out a shot from Olivier Giroud who had escaped through the middle of Chelseas defence onto a straight pass. The Frenchman will have regretted not getting more power on his effort. It was already action-packed, but then the game exploded Chelseas way. Arsenal were open at the back as the Blues countered, Schurrle carrying the ball deep into the Arsenal half. Etoo was overlapping on the right and took the pass back onto his left foot before beautifully curling the ball beyond the keeper from just inside the area That was with only four minutes gone, and with just two more played, Chelsea were two ahead. Schurrle turned from supplier to scorer, left in space as Matic passed forward and finding the far bottom corner with a crisp shot from the edge of the area, with question marks over Szczesnys lack of a reaction to the right-foot shot. It was the Germans seventh goal of the season. Arsene Wenger, we want him to stay, sang the thrilled Chelsea crowd, a refrain that was soon repeated after Chelsea went 3-0 up on 16 minutes. It hadnt been all plain sailing for the Blues. Etoo was lost to what appeared a muscle injury after only nine minutes, but his replacement, Fernando Torres, was involved in the next goal. He took a Hazard pass into the area and returned it to the Belgian whose shot beat the keeper and was heading into the net until Oxlade-Chamberlain bizarrely decided to dive and save it with his arm.. Even more bizarrely, having taken time to reach the conclusion it hadnt been a Szczesny save, the match officials then sent off Kieran Gibbs, the full-back clearly disgusted by the mis-identification. Hazard made no mistake with the penalty. One man down and 3-0 down, what could the Gunners do from here? After a few more minutes, Wenger brought on Vermaelen for Podolski and reduced his numbers up front. Chelseas task was to keep possession, make our title rivals run about, and patiently wait for more chances. David Luizs deflected shot was well saved after the ball was won by him and Matic on halfway, and Schurrle had a strike, also deflected, that Szczesny pouched. The fourth goal that surely put the result beyond all doubt came four minutes from the interval - Oscar the man on the spot to divert Torress low centre into the roof of the net from close range, after the Spaniard had made the most of yet another swift Chelsea counter-attack down the right. Even the most optimistic of Chelsea fans coming into this hugely important game cant have been dreaming of enjoying the half-time break quite so much. It took a save from David Luiz after a rampaging run from Torres to prevent the lead being further extended just a minute after the restart. Arsenal were readjusting after two half-time substitutions, leaving no further cover for injuries. Flamini and Jenkinson were now added to the dam against the blue tide. Arteta was booked for a pain-inflicting foul on Azpilicueta before on 60 minutes, Cazorla came the closest for Arsenal with a shot across goal after Chelsea had left space. Mourinho was quickly on his feet. He wanted his side to step it up again. David Luiz lifted a ball over to Torres who beat offside and gave Oscar the chance to shoot. It was creeping under the bar before the keeper got the faintest of touches to it, missed by the ref who awarded a goal-kick. Oscars shot that made it 5-0 on 65 minutes again reflected badly on Szczesny, the Arsenal keeper getting plenty of hand on a hopeful shot from 20 yards out but failing to keep it out, and he mishandled a Torres shot only seconds later with David Luiz closing fast. In between those incidents, Mohamed Salah replaced Oscar and within four minutes the Egyptian had his first Chelsea goal. Making a rapid run in behind the Gunners beleaguered backline, he was found by a peach of a pass by Matic and drilled the ball low past Szczesny before being engulfed by all his team-mates The game was doing our goal difference a power of good and Schurrle went close to adding a seventh goal late on. There was even time for a couple of scrambles and blocked shots inside the Chelsea area, but nothing was going to spoil the perfect story of this top-of-the-table London derby. Wengers 500th game had been defeat here too - on that occasion 1-0 to a Chelsea team on the way to the title. The manner of this latest victory will keep optimism high in this part of London.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 21:08:41 +0000
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