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It was a case of attack vs defence, as Chelsea sat back to control Arsenal's storm on the night. Chelsea should have had a penalty and Ospina sent off for a foul on Oscar early on in the game, but the referee did not see it that way as the keeper stayed. With second half moving in the same trend, the game finished 0-0. Chelsea with this draw took a huge step towards the title.
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Let us look at how the players performed on the night:
Arsenal
David Ospina – 6/10
He was very lucky not being sent off nor conceding a penalty when he deliberately fouled Oscar in the box. He otherwise did well when called upon.
Hector Bellerin – 6.5/10
He was lucky not to give away an early penalty. Apart form that he defended decently and surged forward regularly to support the attackers.
Per Mertesacker – 6.5/10
A solid performance from the centreback against the league leaders. He defended decently against the little threat Chelsea had .
Laurent Koscielny – 6/10
He formed a good partnership with Mertesacker and defended well, however, his positioning at times was questionable, especially during Oscar's controversial penalty claim.
Nacho Monreal – 7/10
He did well defensively to limit Chelsea's attack on his flank and also went forward regularly. He put in some dangerous crosses to threaten Chelsea's rearguard.
Santi Cazorla – 7/10
Cazorla was at the heart of many things Arsenal did well on the night. His passing was good and he regularly went forward to trouble Chelsea defenders. He was also always available while defending.
Francis Coquelin 6/10
He sat in front of his defenders and offered them good protection. His passing was neat and tidy. However, he got booked at the end of the first half.
Aaron Ramsey – 6/10
His passing was good and he tried his best to carve open a resolute Chelsea defence but was unable to do so. He later moved to a deeper midfield role when Coquelin was substituted.
Mesut Ozil – 7.5/10
After a long time, Ozil finally looked like his former self. Especially in the first half he was Arsenal's key player. He helped in creating three openings for his team in that period.
Alexis Sanchez – 6.5/10
He looked lively from the start and offered good width. He tried his best to unlock Chelsea defence, but Chelsea did well to contain the lively Chilean.
Oliver Giroud – 6/10
He tried to use his physical presence to his advantage but was unable to enjoy much joy against Terry and Cahill. He fought till the end without causing too much trouble.
Substitutes
Danny Welbeck (76') – 5/10
He came on to inject more pace to Arsenal's attack and he did that really well. However, he was not able to change the scoreline.
Theo Walcott (84') – N/A
Hardly any time to make an impact.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 7/10
With Arsenal attacking, Courtois was the busier of the two shot-stoppers as he regularly had to be on alert either to clear the shots which were thrown at him or to collect the crosses which came into his box.
Branislav Ivanovic – 6.5/10
The Serb initially got away with few challenges he made in the early exchanges of the game. Apart from that he enjoyed a good night defensively, although he didn't surge forward as such as he would have liked.
Gary Cahill – 7/10
He formed a great partnership with Terry and looked solid at the back. He kept Arsenal attackers at bay and cleared or blocked anything that was thrown at him.
John Terry – 7.5/10 (Man of the Match)
The Englishman was a rock at the back. He held the back line really well with a composed performance. He formed a good partnership with his defensive partner to keep Giroud quite on the night.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6.5/10
He was composed at the back in the makeshift defensive role and kept Arsenal's attack to a minimum in his side.He, however, did not do a lot defensively.
Cesc Fabregas – 7/10
Except for few occasions, his passing was good on the night, especially the through ball which he played for Oscar reminded Arsenal what they were missing. He was controversially booked for simulation.
Nemanja Matic – 6.5/10
Matic as usual looked solid while sitting in front of his defenders. He defended resolutely and hardly gave a moment's peace to Arsenal's attackers. But, he offered little in attack.
Ramires – 6/10
Ramires did his primary job of defending really well. However, he did not provide much in attack and missed a glorious chance at the first half when he was one-on-one with the keeper.
Willian – 7/10
It was a typical Willian performance. He helped his defenders a lot on his side and was always a threat when going forward. He released Ramires through on goal with a well-timed pass, which his fellow Brazilian failed to make the most of.
Eden Hazard – 6/10
Hazard was not able to repeat his heroics he managed against Manchester United last week. Nonetheless, he helped his team with many counter attacks without making a notable contribution.
Oscar – 5/10
Except for that definite penalty shout, Oscar was anonymous for most parts of the game. He was replaced at the break for Drogba.
Substitutes
Didier Drogba (45') – 5/10
Chelsea got a target man after Drogba came on to the pitch in the second half. However, he was not able to bully Arsenal like he previously used to.
Kurt Zouma (90') N/A
Hardly any time to make an impact.
