Chelsea vs Arsenal: Match Report
A bottom-half-of-the-table Chelsea welcomed Arsenal to Stamford Bridge this weekend. After beating Man City at home before the international break, Arsenal sought their 4th away win of the season which would see them sit atop the Premier League table Saturday evening.
In the 8th minute, Palmer made an unsavoury challenge which could have seen him earn a red card. Ultimately, he was shown a yellow and allowed to continue. Minutes later Sterling crossed to Mudryk, whose header was blocked by Saliba's arm. It was close proximity and there was no intention from Saliba, but under the current handball laws that was deemed a penalty. Cole Palmer, who many thought was lucky to be on the pitch had snatched the penalty away from Sterling. He sent Raya the wrong way and placed the ball in the bottom corner, putting Chelsea 1 goal to the good.
Throughout the game Chelsea's attack was very dangerous, especially on the counter. They flooded bodies forward; Palmer, Sterling, Mudryk, Enzo, and Gallagher often found themselves driving towards Arsenal’s box. Palmer was floating in and out of space and Arsenal’s central defenders didn’t know how to handle his movement and burst of speed. His movement enabled him to receive the ball in crucial areas. In one instance, Gallagher played a pass into space, with Palmer running onto it ahead of Gabriel. Palmer took the shot across the goal but dragged it narrowly wide of the post.
On the other hand, Arsenal looked toothless going forward in the first half. They controlled most of the possession, but each time they lost it Chelsea quickly progressed the ball up the. Chelsea compacted the midfield areas making it difficult for Arsenal to move the ball forward, Cucarella also had a great game up against Saka who did look a step off the pace for a chunk of the game.
The second half began, and it could not have started any worse for Arsenal. Mudryk, who they were so eager to sign last January, looked to put in a cross which ended up floating over Raya’s head and into the back of his net. The Spaniard's positioning was all wrong and he got massively caught out from an unintentional shot, costing his team a second goal.
Shortly after, the keeper made another mistake. As Arsenal were trying to play out from the back Chelsea employed a high press. Raya received the ball and attempted a pass to Rice which was easily intercepted by Palmer. The Chelsea forward tried to wiggle his way around Raya for an open goal, but Raya closed him down and got a hand to the ball with the shot going wide, making up for his terrible error. In the first half against Man City, he looked shaky, Arsenal fans will be hoping his form picks up in the weeks to come as he cannot continue to make high-profile errors.
Sanchez believed it was his turn to make a goalkeeping error. His pass out to Enzo was misplaced and Rice reacted quicker than Gallagher. With a first-time shot from over 25 yards out, Rice curled it past Enzo into an empty goal and left Sanchez clutching at straws. The £100m midfielder produced his second Arsenal goal, leading them back into the game.
At this point, Arsenal made some substitutions. Havertz, Smith-Rowe, Trossard and Nketiah replaced Jesus, Jorginho, Martinelli and Odegaard. In the 84th minute, Pochettino took off two of his best-performing players - Sterling and Palmer for James and Madueke. At the time I didn’t love these changes for Chelsea as I thought one aspect of their game which pinned Arsenal back was their high press which all came from Palmer and Sterling, forcing Arsenal to make mistakes at the back like the Raya incident earlier in the game. Instead, Pochettino opted to bring in Reece James to offer more defensive stability. This didn’t work.
Chelsea had thrown away their lead within a minute of those substitutions coming onto the pitch. Outside of Chelsea's box, Havertz made a short pass to Saka who created just enough space for himself to whip the ball towards the back post. Beating Gusto to the ball, Trossard arrives at the back post and pokes the ball past Sanchez with an outstretched leg. Through an individual mistake and poor tracking, Chelsea let the win slip away.
Looking at the match as a whole, Chelsea did deserve the win. They played impressive football out of possession shutting Arsenal out and breaking down their attacks. When they picked up the ball, they were on the front foot looking to charge forward and utilise the talent they have in the frontline. They had opportunities to add more goals to their tally and not taking those chances cost them valuable points. It was clear Pochettino had studied Arsenal's style of play and coached his team well to deny Arsenal the opportunity to find their feet. Cole Palmer had an outstanding game, and he will be bitterly disappointed with the result. Both Sterling and Mudryk played well, posing a threat whenever they advanced. The high press also caused Arsenal a heap of problems. In midfield, they stayed compact and disrupted Arsenal's rhythm and defensively were sure of themselves.
In contrast, Arsenal were poor. During the first half, Jorginho and Rice misplaced numerous passes and struggled to establish dominance over the midfield areas. The frontline was lacklustre and created no goalscoring opportunities in the first half and large periods of the second. For 75 minutes they were the worst team. Rice’s opportunistic goal gave them a lease of life and some hope, which they grabbed onto and ran with. Changes in the attacking positions changed the dynamic of their attacking play and they did go on to salvage a point. Despite Arsenal playing poorly, Chelsea deserves a lot of credit for that as they made it difficult for their opposition. This season they have only converted 3 games into wins, but have shown that they have the talent and management to turn that around. Chelsea has a difficult fixture list forthcoming, but they are still a force to be reckoned with.
