Chelsea took sweet revenge for their 3-0 loss in the reverse fixture by bullying Arsenal into submission at Stamford bridge as Arsenal’s title challenge ended at the hands of the team who are now everyone’s favorites to win it.
It all started with a horrible mistake in the back as Alonso outjumped Bellerin to head home from point-blank range. Arsenal were always going to chase the game which just left Chelsea more space and time to attack them on the counter.
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If the first goal was a mistake then the second goal was a piece of individual magic from Eden Hazard. The Belgian left three Arsenal players for dead before calmly slotting it past Petr Cech in goal.
On his second return to the Bridge Cech gave former Gunner Cesc Fabregas the perfect gift by giving it straight to the Spaniard who just lobbed the ball into the back of the net. Here is how the players and managers reacted after the game:
Antonio Conte
"It was an important game. I consider Arsenal one of the six teams that can fight for the title until the end of the season. To put them 12 points behind is very important for us.
"In four days we have had two games against two great teams. I think we are showing we deserve to stay on top of the table. I am very pleased for my players. In every session, they show me great attitude and great will to fight and win this league.”
"Was the first goal a foul? In England never. No.”
Arsene Wenger
“It was a foul. If you look at a number of games recently we can feel sorry. It was 100% a foul, it was even dangerous play. That doesn't take anything away from the performance of Chelsea. We had a strong start but didn't take the opportunities and after half-time the second goal was the killer for us.”
Pundits
Thierry Henry
“I don’t know if Arsenal played into Chelsea's hands. I don’t know if Arsenal even played ”
Graeme Souness
“Coquelin did three things wrong. Don’t flick it. Don’t run out of position. Make sure you put Hazard on his backside. Theo Walcott has seen the danger & decided to do nothing about it. We saw it at Man Utd with Mata”
Players:
Eden hazard
"My first thought is to dribble like I did. I know I need to score more and today I did. Its always good to score beautiful goals against massive teams.”
Petr Cech
