Chelsea vs Arsenal : 5 Talking Points

The Champions coming fresh from a win in the Champions League were high on confidence and looked more cohesive as a team. Arsene Wenger, who was looking for his first win against Jose Mourinho in BPL, was again disappointed by his players and to certain extent by the referee.

Chelsea went on to win 2-0, with both Zouma and Hazard on score sheet. For Arsenal, it was a frustrating evening, two of their players getting sent off, Gabriel and Cazorla, with the former enduring a rather amusing turn of events.
Here are our 5 talking points of the match:

1. Moments:

Gabriel and Costa’s outbreak was the moment that changed the game in seconds. Costa should have been sent off for using his arm against Koscienly in a manner which was outside the boundaries of standard conduct but went unnoticed by the referee. A few penalty shouts by the men in blue also added to what was a difficult game for Mike Dean.

2. Mou on top again, Arsene still searching,

Zouma started again for the Blues to deal with the blistering pace of Arsenal and the move worked well. Zouma did exceptionally well to keep Walcott from exploiting the space behind back four and at the other end he scored opener from Fabregas’ free-kick at the far post.

For Gunners, it was Koscielny who stuck to the task and stood his ground making important tackles. In the absence of Mertesacker, Koscielny was left to do all by himself with his partner Gabriel getting himself sent off but his determination alone wasn’t enough.

3. Red was the color for Arsenal:

For Arsenal, it was a day to forget. Gabriel’s red card was debatable but what his reaction to it was totally unnecessary and immature. Him kicking Costa right in front of Mike Dean, was nothing but silly and imprudent. His send off pretty much cost them the game, apart from Cazorla’s red card added to the problem.

Pedro who had a dream debut didn’t quite show the same quality in this game. He had the most number of chances to score, squandering each one of them. His overrunning across the field with ball saw two through ball opportunities wasted. His track back was good but going forward he didn’t offer much.

4. Facts and Formation:

Chelsea played their custom 4-2-3-1 formation with Oscar back in starting line-up from opening day. Matic and Fabregas in the centre, Pedro who was rested from mid-week game was back in side whereas Terry was rested again.
Arsenal played the same formation with Cazorla and Coquelin in the center and Ramsey and Alexis on wings. Giroud was benched for this game, favoring Walcott to exploit lack of pace in Chelsea’s defense.
Zouma scored his first goal since February for Chelsea giving the lead. Arsenal haven’t beaten Chelsea since 2011 at Stamford Bridge. Arsene Wenger is still to beat Mourinho in BPL.

5. Chelsea back on track, Mertesacker to rescue:

Chelsea did manage to get over the line but it was a scrappy win, they still don’t convince as a team who can replicate the success of last season. Perhaps it’s the confidence which is lacking which would be helped by the victory. Their Defence was solid in this game but concerns still remain given many out-of-form defenders of late.
For Arsenal it was the problem of lack of experience which lead to their downfall, with Mertesacker back from injury, Gunners defense would be strong again. Going with Walcott as lone striker in big games isn’t the right option. Perhaps we won’t see that happening again.