Chelsea certainly know how to put a dampener on Arsene Wengers celebrations as his 1000th Arsenal game ended in their record defeat against us The league leaders sprinted out of the blocks on a sunny but cold early afternoon, Samuel Etoo and Andre Schurrle putting us 2-0 up after only six minutes. The lead was doubled by half-time, Eden Hazard slotting a penalty and Oscar netting, the first of those also resulting in an Arsenal red card, Kieran Gibbs erroneously sent-off when Oxlade-Chamberlain should have walked. With a lead such as our 4-0 one at the interval, sides can find it hard to maintain the impetus in the second period but there was no such failing on this occasion, with Oscar and substitute Mohamed Salah completing the derby damage. The victory was also the biggest for Chelsea under Jose Mourinhos management. Team News It was all change in the double pivot area of Chelseas midfield, with Nemanja Matic back having been ineligible for the Champions League and David Luiz returning, with Ramires banned and Frank Lampard on the bench. Etoo was the spearheaded with Schurrle joining Oscar and Hazard as the attacking midfielders behind him. Willian was suspended. The defence was unchanged for the seventh game running. Arsenals fitness concerns over Tomas Rosicky proved unfounded so they were unchanged from their derby win at Tottenham last weekend. Kim Kallstrom, injured since he moved to the Emirates on loan in January, was on the bench. First half 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.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 09:26:40 +0000
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