Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal: Gunners falter in bid for Champions League spots

Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with a Juan Mata goal just after five minutes and a Frank Lampard penalty in the sixteenth minute.

But a certain section of fans fans will argue that both Chelsea goals were the result of dubious refereeing decisions.

Despite the close scoreline, the match was anything but. Chelsea dominated the first half, creating a majority of their 14 chances against an Arsenal side that looked painfully short of ideas.

But in the snow and sleet of London, it was the Gunners who started the second half on fire. Theo Walcott’s clean strike following Santi Cazorla’s through ball halved the deficit in the 58^th minute.

Despite a late surge from the Gunners, it was Chelsea who will take comfort from this win which puts an end to their wretched home record which saw them pick up only two wins out of a possible six.

Both managers tweaked their lineups going into the game, around which rumours of its cancellation swirled like the snow at Stamford Bridge.

With attacking duo Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ill, Santi Cazorla dropped out wide with Francis Coquelin replacing him in the heart of midfield. Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky were both out with injury, which meant that the fit-again Abou Diaby played alongside Jack Wilshere. Despite Laurent Koscielny returning to the squad after serving his suspension, Per Mertesacker was paired with Thomas Vermaelen in defence in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

For Chelsea, Rafa Benitez was without the services of John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses, who are both away on international duty with Nigeria in the African Nations Cup. John Terry, back from injury, was on the bench while David Luiz was excluded from the matchday squad.

Benitez chose to deploy a five-man midfield with Frank Lampard and Ramires in the central spots and Juan Mata, Eden Hazard and Oscar ahead of them, behind lone striker Fernando Torres.

Also lining up 4-2-3-1, Cesar Azpilicueta was selected at right-back, with Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill playing in the centre of defence.

Arsenal could have taken the game by the scruff of the neck as early as the fourth minute, with Theo Walcott’s threaded pass to Olivier Giroud sidefooted wide by the France international.

They were to pay for their profligacy just a minute later, albeit in controversial fashion. Ramires won the ball in midfield, but fouled Coquelin in the process, and passed the ball to Azpilicueta on the right. His cross-field pass found Mata, who had no hesitation in blasting past Wojciech Szczesny.

Arsenal fans could field aggrieved at Martin Atkinson’s decision not to blow for a foul in the build-up, but that incident in icy London only seemed to fan their flames. Cazorla thundered a shot towards the Chelsea goal and forced Petr Cech into a save in the ninth minute.

The Gunners rearguard has been questioned all season, and they seemed frozen in the Arctic conditions as they conceded their second goal after just sixteen minutes on the clock.

Mata teased past Bacary Sagna and found Ramires in acres of space in the box. The Brazilian attempted to dance his way past Poland keeper Szczesny, who slid in trying to win the ball but ended up conceding a penalty.

Atkinson’s decision to give Szczesny a yellow card had Benitez vociferously protesting to the fourth official on the touchline, but he was celebrating seconds later when Lampard scored goal number 195 for the Blues.

Lampard’s celebration seemed to suggest he was off in the summer, but the only thing off at this point seemed to be the Arsenal switch.

Despite replays indicating that Ramires had slipped as Szczesny came in to intercept, the Gunners’ fire seemed to have gone out in wintry West London.

Chelsea continued to fashion chance after chance, with Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Torres all being teed up brilliantly but failing to ripple the Arsenal net. Torres in particular was especially wasteful. His sliced shot in the 45^th minute which careened into the stands was the perfect summing up of his Chelsea career.

Contrary to the Chelsea fans’ usual reception of Benitez, cries of ‘sign him up’ followed him as his team went into half time clearly the superior side.

Arsene Wenger isn’t the one known for hair dryer methods in the Premier League, but he took a leaf out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s book.

It certainly seemed that way as Arsenal re-emerged early into the bitter cold. Whatever he said to them in the dressing room seemed to have defrosted them as they came out into the second half looking to put right the mistakes they had committed in the first.

With Jack Wilshere doing the dirty work in midfield and Cazorla pulling the strings, the Gunners tested Petr Cech early in the second half.

Walcott fired straight at the Czech when Giroud was waiting for an inviting pass before Per Mertesacker fired straight at him following a corner. The big Frenchman muffed a header under pressure from Ivanovic soon afterwards, but the goal was coming.

And when it came, it was typically Arsenal.

Santi Cazorla’s brilliant through ball found Walcott spring the offside trap, and he galloped clear of the Chelsea rearguard before celebrating his contract with a neat, clipped finish past Cech.

With the Gunners finally coming into the game, manager Wenger decided to bring on his first substitute. Aaron Ramsey replaced Coquelin in the middle of the park. The youngster had worked hard all afternoon.

Arsenal had made their intentions clear, and like Southampton last week, there was for a while a real danger of Chelsea frittering away a two-goal lead. Walcott threatened to equalise, but his left-footed effort was wide of the mark in the 61^st minute.

But the frustration of being starved of the ball was getting to Chelsea. Juan Mata was booked for flinging the ball away after a foul and Torres lost control of the ball after he had left Vermaelen floundering in his wake.

Fortunately for the Spaniards, compatriot Cazorla’s free kick was hit straight into the wall and the resulting corner failed to trouble anyone.

Benitez sensed the danger on his flank and decided to batten down the hatches by bringing on Ryan Bertrand for the effervescent Oscar, but with Arsenal now needing to throw the kitchen sink at Chelsea, Andrei Arshavin came on for Diaby.

With the game now being increasingly played inside the Chelsea half, Torres was hauled off for Demba Ba as ironic cheers rang around the stadium.

It nearly worked. A rare Chelsea foray forward saw Demba Ba beat a galumphing Szczesny and plant a shot goalwards, only for skipper Vermaelen to clear off the line.

The Belgian was soon to be involved at the other end of the action. After his compatriot Hazard was replaced by a more sprightly Marko Marin, he oversaw a free kick which could have tied up the game.

Unfortunately for the Gunners, his shot fizzed wide, and with it, another opportunity to claim ground in the tussle for the Champions League spots. Olivier Giroud thumped a header above the crossbar in stoppage time, but like Arsenal’s performance, it was determined but futile.

Chelsea are third in the table on 45 points, ten points behind leaders Manchester United who are playing Tottenham at the Lane at the time of writing.

Arsenal, however, have it all to do if they want to ensure themselves Champions League qualification next season. Sixth in the table and six points off the top four, they will be hoping to collect all three points in their next fixture against West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium.

Lineups:

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal (Mata 6′, Lampard 16′; Walcott 58′)

Referee: Martin Atkinson

Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Oscar (Bertrand 72′), Mata, Hazard (Marin 88′), Torres (Ba 81′).

Subs not used: Turnbull, Ferreira, Ake, Terry,

Interim manager: Rafael Benitez

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Coquelin (Ramsey 59′), Diaby (Arshavin 75′), Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott; Giroud

Subs not used: Mannone, Koscielny, Santos, Jenkinson, Frimpong

Manager: Arsene Wenger

Stats:

Chelsea:

Shots (on target): 14 (7), fouls: 10, corner kicks: 3, offsides: 5, yellow cards: 2, red cards: 0, saves: 5

Arsenal:

Shots (on target): 12(6), fouls: 11, corner kicks: 9, offsides: 5, yellow cards:1, red cards: 0, saves: 5

Possession: Chelsea 50% – 50% Arsenal

Next Fixture:

Chelsea: Capital One Cup Semi-final second leg vs. Swansea City, Liberty Stadium, 23 January 2012

Arsenal: Barclays Premier League vs. West Ham United, Emirates Stadium, 23 January 2012