#2 Arsenal don’t take their chances and get over-run in midfield
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Arsenal were over-run in midfield by the likes of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic. As Gary Neville said in his commentary on Sky Sports, "You've got to stop the opposition playing. I'm sorry, Arsenal just don't do that. They let you play."
It was an apt assessment of Arsenal’s midfield lacking the necessary bite needed to ruffle opponents. Chelsea were good on the ball and sprayed it around the pitch, creating chance after chance. The Blues were especially deadly on the counter attack creating many 3v2 and 4v3 situations for themselves. However, the Gunners did come back in the 37th minute, after working a corner short, Oxdale-Chamberlain played a great ball in that found Gabriel (who came on for Bellerin).
But the defender could not find the back of the net but managed to force Courtois into a brilliant save. Chelsea and Arsenal would have a few more chances before half time but none were clear-cut. There was another big chance late in added time for Mesut Ozil after he found himself in space inside the box, but the German midfielder cut back into on-rushing bodies on his left and took a tame shot at Courtois. Arsenal lacked aggression and didn’t take their chances.
Gary Neville explained how the midfield worked and said, "Someone has got to try and prevent that counter-attack. Someone has got to get to Hazard and Pedro to stop the ball. Three or four times the game could have been out of sight, but for a stray pass. Let me throw this midfield at you - Oxlade-Chamberlain, Iwobi and Ozil - against Chelsea. We talk about the pair of Kante and Matic. How can Arsenal compete to win a league with that midfield?"
Opta provided this stat at half-time
