Arsenal leave Chelsea bruised after dominant Emirates win

Arsenal put the Blues to the fire today at the Emirates, closing the gap between sixth and fourth down to three points, and giving us the impetus to relight our season.

As predicted in our pre-match preview, this was the perfect opportunity to show the league what we can do, with the perfect platform to put a marker down for the remainder of the campaign.

Our side started the match as they meant to go on, putting Chelsea on the backfoot from the get-go, and they never let up.

I couldn’t even name a man of the match today as for me the whole team was on point throughout the match, but it looks as if we may pay the price of losing a couple players to injury afterwards. Hector Bellerin looks destined to return to the sidelines,..

We opened the scoring through a Alexandre Lacazette shot, with the striker breaking through between the defenders to squeeze the tiniest space in the box, which just so happened to be enough to put the ball past Kepa into the roof of the net.

The goal didn’t change proceedings as we continued to bully the opposition, and although our second goal came thanks to a ricochet of an unusual part of Koscielny’s upper torso, the scoreline was well deserved.

We continued to keep Chelsea compact throughout the second half also, despite some changes in personnel, and you couldn’t pick up on any clear-cut chances for the away team, although that didn’t stop Marcos Alonso from finding the post with a header.

Chelsea will not be looking forward to coming to the Emirates again for some time. They were battered and bullied from start to finish, although I still hope they take the anger of that and give our North London rivals a pummeling in midweek.

Who was your man of the match? Were Chelsea lucky to get away with only a 2-0 drubbing?

Tags Arsenal Chelsea

117 Comments

  1. I know the players would be more motivated because of that was a big derby game, compared to when they faced West Ham, but they worked much harder than my expectation. This motivation problem has been plaguing Arsenal for many years and the club should have punished the ones that slack off or demotivated in the field

    Having said that, Emery’s decision to use 4-1-2-1-2 and hardworking players was spot-on. Had his plan not worked, he would get backlashes from the media and the fans on his tactic and player selection

    All outfield players, including the attackers, worked their socks off to guard the flanks. The same commitment should be compulsory when playing against poorer team, such as the next Cardiff game

    1. Yup, Emery’s tactics won this game. It’s been a while since we put in a good performance but finally it ends the constant negativity. Well done today to the whole team.

    2. Saw people saying Kos for Mustafi is a mistake.The fact that this current Koscielny is being compared to Mustafi should tell you about Mustafi’s quality.

      1. yeah i didn’t think Kos was up for this game. He’s been getting walked over a lot the past year but credit where credit’s due. He was MOTM for me. Musfati is a player that needs to go as soon as possible, but I still thought he had good matches earlier in the season. Emery got it right tho, well done.

        1. Slightly puzzled by the comment ‘he’s been getting walked over a lot the past year’, he was out injured for 7 months of it.

      2. I was wrong about Koscielny today, because he is usually not fast or strong enough to contain the opponents

        But the CBs were also helped by the aggression level of Arsenal midfielders today. I believe they made more interceptions and tackles than in the West Ham game

    3. Yes, today we had eleven players who were happy to work their socks off. One who is not happy to work his socks off was on the bench and THAT laziness is why he does not start, not should he. But if you have Wengeritis(the inability to see what is plain and obvious to all but you) you will not accept this truth.

      1. Jon, is it not possible to comment on what is being discussed without the ridiculous return to the Ozil attacks. Please move forward and write some new stuff, you’ve made your point many, many, many times we all get you’re not happy with Ozil, something new please.

      2. After a splendid game of football all Jon wants to talk about is Ozil and wengerrites (whatever those are).

      1. Sue, don’t suppose you know who the referee for Friday’s FA Cup match with Man Utd is, I’m dreading it’s going to be that cheat Michael Oliver. Seven penalties against us in the last Ten games his officiated at our games, never gives us anything. One referee I’ve changed my mind about is today’s official, Manchester’s Anthony Taylor. Prone to the occasional mistake but unlike Dean and Oliver not bias in any way therefore not a cheat. Today, I thought he was exceptional and although a self confessed Altrincham supporter, (no allegiance to City or United) I honestly wouldn’t mind him again on Friday. One thing is for certain, with 95% of referees coming from the north and 5% from the midlands is that it will not be a southern referee because there are none. If you want to complain about this fact then write to Mike Riley C/O the PGMOL. Good luck with a reply.

        1. I haven’t got a clue Kenny… it’s about time we had him again isn’t it? Oh great that’ll be another penalty then!
          Yes I thought Taylor did alright – didn’t have to come on here & whinge about the ref for once ??

  2. The formation worked today, the team was solid at the back and efficient going forward. I noticed kolasinac was more cautious about going too forward and he picked the right times to go which shows what proper instructions can do for a player and he now needs to consistently apply that. I thought koscielny was brilliant not only for the goal but defensively, he blocked a lot of crosses and also shots. The game also shows that sokratis is better on the right side of defence and having koscielny on the left brought a balance to the defence. We were defensively solid today because we were organised at the back, played with a back four, the full backs were cautious and not getting caught out of position and everybody worked their socks off. This is what we need to do every game to improve our defensive record. Brilliant team performance!

  3. Koscielny driving that even in his declined form he’s not Arsenal’s worst defender and still a far better defender than Mustafi.Our best players were the defenders and Lacazette.One thing I realized was that even though we defended well we were not good enough in carrying the ball from midfield and linking up with the attack.Lots of passes were overhit in midfield.Bellerin did well today and I hope and pray that he makes a quick recovery from his injury.I was really impressed with our pressing today and I just hope we can gain more dominance in terms of possession.

    1. I still think Mustafi is fitter and faster than Koscielny though

      Aubameyang, Ramsey and Lacazette pressed Chelsea’s defenders and Jorginho hard. Torreira, Xhaka and Guendouzi made Kante and Kovacic not able to flow the ball forward to Chelsea’s attackers

  4. Arsenal take a bow ????? brilliant performance! Big shout out to Koscielny & Sokratis!
    I’m just really gutted for Bellerin, he had a good game too.. just hope he isn’t out for too long. I shouldn’t have doubted my team, but you can’t blame me after last week!!
    Please play like that against United ?

      1. Told you Sue-somehow I just knew we would perform today.Still disappointed Ozil didn’t make the starting line up.

    1. it all looked very similar to Holding’s injury making me fear for the worst. Our two best defenders this season both getting ACL tears would be beyond unlucky. We would have to complete season with AMN/Lict/Jenkinson.

        1. Agree. I’d seriously rather Jenkinson, which says a lot. I did not think Licht would be this poor. Good thing it’s a one year contract.

  5. Fantastic performance today, but I feel so sorry for Emery. He’s already lost 2 players to season ending injuries, and it really doesn’t look good for Bellerin. So that’s a first choice CB gone with Holding, and it’s looks likely that your first choice RB/RWB is gone as well. Constant injuries all season.

    So glad Emery picked 10 outfield players that were going to work hard on and off the ball. Can’t afford passengers in big games.

  6. Do not question our manager. This man is doing wonders here at Arsenal and if the owner would care just a little for this club, then who knows how far we would go.

    Not long ago every damn derby i would start watching with the mindset of us losing for sure, but with Emery in charge things have changed.

    Waiting for Mesut agent to come out and blame the manager for his clients faults. Pathetic Wiesel of a player. Keep the good work up Arsenal.

    1. Emery needs to be given more of a chance by a lot of fans. He’s doing a solid job for the position he’s in. Two big results this season, and draw against Liverpool and United. Not bad. There are larger squad issues that harm us from any consistency. But whoever replaced Wenger was going to have to deal with them.

      1. No way! Ozil is a mug, he loves London and is happy to be making 350,000 a week doing nothing. It’s criminal that he makes more than Auba and lacazette

        1. Agreed, I will be if it were me. He has nothing to prove anymore. Champions league, la liga, 3 fa, World Cup, and community shield (if that counts) make 36 million in two years. He will be the greatest fool to move. More so I really like him ???

    2. We had a great game. Played well from start to finish. Ozil didn’t kick a ball, yet you must look for a way to still mention him… Can’t you just let the young man be?

      1. No i cant bec he has a negative effect in our club and the manager has to keep on doing what is best for us and that is cleaning the club from the mess Wenger has left behind and Mesut is a big mess right now. We need space to buy new player so Gute Nacht Mesut!

    3. You had to do it huh? Take another swipe at Ozil and bring up discussion about him again. He wasn’t even part of the match but somehow you had to take that dig at him and his agent right? are you obsessed about Ozil?
      big ups to the team!!

        1. since you replied may i hoyte, i’ll be takin this one ;)….it’s about timing KS you are like a guy that goes to a wedding . And wants to talk to the bride about his ex, but you won’t let go you will just sit there between the bride and groom and explain all your problems to them, whilst us the guest watch awkwardly!!!! good win COYG!!

      1. If I learnt anything from today’s game, it’s that we don’t actually need Ozil… The team wasn’t short of creativity and Ramsey put in a good shift. Never stopped running. Too bad he’s the one leaving and not mesut

        1. Ramsey’s would have probably been retained if Ozil wasn’t offered to rob Arsenal. Ramsey is a very good asset to have for the right price.

        2. Hello?? the team wasn’t short of what?? what game did you see? We won the game because we took our chances early in the game.
          I’m not pointing this out because of Ozil, I am pointing out the truth if you wanna be realistic. We hardly had the ball and Lacazette scored a beauty, and after our goal, we didn’t create much but we covered up by pressing and closing in on Chelsea. Today’s the first time I can purely say We pressed the way we should be doing..
          Other than that when we had the ball, we weren’t all that deadly, proof came up when Lacazette who’s been working for the attack got subbed.
          It was a nice game, but don’t get carried away and start saying stuffs already

          1. We created 8 chances the whole game against a strong Chelsea defense, missed 3 big chances, had 10 shots from the opposition penalty area, 5 of which were on target, scored 2 of them. So I still say YES WE WERENT SHORT OF CREATIVITY TODAY.

            Did we miss Ozil? Be true to yourself man, deep down I know you know the truth, it’s just a question of if you’ll accept this truth.

          1. People like will never accept the truth. Iwobi played the game but your superstar ozil was nowhere to be seen.

      2. If we had lost the game you would be doing the same thing, stating how ozil would have won us the game with his world class attribute

    1. Agree. Xhaka is a tough guy and can defend well, but he can’t control the tempo like Cazorla

      Regarding the winger, I think we need a faster one

      1. There are so many tricky wingers out there, no problem at all, but replacing Xhaka is rather difficult.

        1. @ks-gunner . Reverse is the case .
          there is a long list of midfielders who can replace xhaka
          De jong of Ajax
          Tonali of Brescia more of our speed
          Thomas Partey of Athletico Madrid
          Houssem Aouar of Lyon etc

    1. and that tackle on Willian!! loved it! we where so solid at the back, even your man Kola bossed pedro all game!!

      Ps; why didn’t he shoot, he had the perfect goal chance why cross it, but ill give him credit. i still don’t like him Sue…and montreal got a one year extension yay, i know delayed reaction 🙂

      1. Sokratis was awesome & that tackle and his reaction were brilliant! I really like him!
        Kola was such a beast… what’s not to like, that toned physique & a little facial hair ?? I agree though he should have shot, he might even have scored!!

  7. Well there you go lads, you did it. Credits goes to Emery for his tactics working out today?? Big credit to the boys, remember when I said we are used to Going on an amazing run then losing games and playing like shït, and then taking a 360° turn and go back to the Amazing run? well brace yourselves, this might be the start of it.
    I’m so so gutted Bellerin is injured, it means More of Litchsteiner??.
    wait, wtf!! Leno didn’t get tested today at all??.
    Get well soon Hector, still I’m not gon get my hopes high, good luck to the team

  8. New formation and tactic, win at HT, clean sheet, win a derby, Well done sire, thumbs up to Emery and his boys, no one gave u guys chance afterall.
    All negative comments suspended

  9. A nice result and good performance.
    Its a refreshing change to be able to talk about positive things instead of talking about the negatives things that seem to plague Arsenal.
    The weekend looks a lot brighter despite the bad weather and BREXIT…

  10. The work from the team was just brilliant, to a man it was just brilliant to see. The way we started set the tone, we were on them like a hornet, they didn’t look like they expected it. They kept trying to play out and we were just boom, straight in. Then the defenders and midfielders were similar, gave them F all space and tried to push them back or dispossess them. Great to see, for the entire game almost, brilliant work ethic.

  11. I think it is accurate to say we have huge cojones, Sue. We can hardly walk with them dangling between the legs.

    Chelsea got knocked senseless by those heavy equipment today. Good job guys.

  12. Regarding Ozil why not offer him to the rich Chinese clubs?
    They pay big money and wages for average players – Ozil is a good player and this would be a last big payout. It would be win-win for everyone…

    1. Perhaps Ozil doesn’t want to go to China, the agent or club doesn’t always has to decide where a player goes, they can decide for themselves….

    1. His haters have gone into hiding GB 🙂

      the same guy that said he only passes sideways, or the other that said he had no vision will pretend they knew he was WC all along, hehe fickle fickle !! I love our fans and i fully agree with you, boy wonder!!!

  13. the one thing that worries me now is how much effort we put in, and of course the injury to an important player is not good, not bellerin!!…we saw what happened after the NLD drop of form due to the effort put in, great effort by the lads, full credit to the team and manager 🙂

    but let’s keep up with the marathon, the season is still long and we need some sort of injection if it’s not signings then it has to be youth like everyone has suggested, blood some youngsters as torreira and laca need a small break, lots of effort so happy for the team the fans and myself. COYG

  14. Today’s performance was near perfect. Although we were out played in the midfield especially in the second half.We just need a player who can hold on that ball and dictate play in that mid then we can see what the season has in store for us.So happy today…

    1. we got the guy that dictates the way they control the mid subbed off that was amazing, i saw it as we won the midfield battle, i’ve also only noticed kante in the last 15 min we owned them!!…we just slowed down because we gave it everything, and they started playing direct, we could gave scored 5 first half!

    2. I actually don’t think they outplayed us per se, we just allowed them more of the ball, so we could stay compact, get plenty of men behind the ball, and protect what we had. If any opportunities came about, then hit them on the counter, which we did. We had great opportunities to score many more in the second half, whilst barely created anything. I thought it was fantastic tactics from Emery in that second half.

  15. I thought some felt none of our boys will get in the Chelsea team.

    Some of us fans need to begin to learn to respect and believe in this team more. Some talk more out of fear than reality. A game is not won or lost on paper.

    Chelsea were lucky today. They escaped an absolute hiding. It would have been a just recompense for them to have been at the receiving end of a good thrashing.

    But this is good enough. Three points and a clean sheet.

  16. Why do some fan always come up with negative every after good game. They have nothing to bitch about today so they have to drag Mustafi and Ozil through the mud to make a statement. Enjoy the win and the performance and if you can’t go see your doctor.

    1. multiple choice please it’s easier : which doctor should you see?

      a) Dr. Phil
      b) Dr. Pepper
      c) Dr. Dre
      d) Dr. Love

    2. Please don’t tell someone how to comment.Allow everyone have their opinion.Its annoying when people come off like that.Before the match started people said Kos for Mustafi was a mistake and I was wondering if they’ve forgotten about his mistakes.

  17. The only thing I’m gutted about is I tried to get tickets for this game but couldn’t…. so am even more pumped for the Cardiff game now COYG

    1. Ozil will start that game I am sure. An opportunity to wow his loyal fan base with intricate plays and display his eyes for a needle pass it seems. Leicester at home, Burnley at home and then Cardiff at home, you see any pattern? Emery is a bloody genius

  18. Passing forward was instrumental to our win today. Both Bellerin and Kolasnic played most the passes they got from our CD to the attackers or moved them forward themselves which gave different attacking outlet unlike in our past matches.

  19. defensively, the team did well. however, I noticed the following issues.
    1. Arsenal get caught too often trying to play out from the back. it can be atrocious on another day.
    2. linking the midfield to attack was poor today.
    3. we were lucky to score the goals as they came from set pieces. apart from those, we hardly created anything of note.

    it may have resulted in a victory today, but without being able to create chances, arsenal run the risk of many more west Hamish performances.

    1. Seems you’re the only one to notice all that too, how people get carried away suddenly and started saying stuffs as if we created chances and we were a threat.
      Like you said we came out today because we took our early chances

      1. ? Musdon, we created loads in the first half, Auba missed three for starters. But there are always comments that give then take away, always a ‘however’. Let’s celebrate a good win for once and save the ‘howevers’ for another day.

        1. Mudson you probably started watching the game from the 65th minute. Thank god for YouTube eh? ? go and see the highlights and count how many chances we created and missed in the first half alone.

          1. TH14 you’re slowly becoming someone who can’t discuss football properly and honestly because you’re obsessed with Iwobi, so you’ll never be honest about the whole team. we won that game because we tool our chances, Chelsea dominated us for the whole game even though we won. this delusion of suddenly seeing no flaw in the team after a big game win is still with some of you people, we won the game so we are all glad and should enjoy the moment, but still this isn’t about any single player or Iwobi, the team didn’t create much today, neither did the midfield link well with the attackers.. stop being sentimental, we still need to fix our creativity and stability. He made valid points, now that’s what makes a good discussion, you made no point and only sounded like a comedian with that YouTube line

            1. eddie think you are right but the first 20 minutes we bossed the game with laca’s brilliant goal just deserts and aube had one clear chance he should have buried … after that we were on the defensive and did it really well and much better than i expected so happy about that; but the idea that this is a turning point is no more guaranteed than the one-off performances we turned in during the last 5 years of wenger’s time … creativity and stability are spot on ramsey and xhaka arent it and neither was the reason for the victory yday … i for one am thrilled that ramsey is leaving just want xhaka to leave asap … suarez rumour still on and i think its the closest we can get to santi at short notice and boy is that guy missed …

    2. @Mudson,
      Now that’s one real and genuine analysis of the game. Yes, we won, but sincerely we didn’t create much. We didn’t boss the midfield and didn’t link with the strikers well, but we won. Will Denis Suarez be the answer? Your guess is as good as mine…

  20. For me the special thrill is that for the first time in ages we had a PROPER defence that did the job that a proper defence should do. The attitude and work rate was key. Kos was clearly MotM and was rightly awarded it by Sky. The team looked fresh for the first time in many weeks and it is a real morale boost. However, I still do not believe we can finish in top four with the squad we have. Great shame about Bellerin and it looks like his season is now finished BUT pray I am wrong though. ALL our team did us proud!

    Clearly Emery out thought Sarri and though some twerps on here , mostly from a particular country, I can’t help noticing, think our manager should be sacked , the vast majority of sane fans can see how shrewd Emery is. If only we had an owner who cared. But we don’t, which is WHY I do not think we will finish top four. But a day to be proud of our club, owner apart obviously.

  21. I like the tactic today even though I didn’t enjoy our football they had 65% of the ball and we pressed well at times only issue now is when the opposition do us the same cause we don’t seem to know what to do with the ball when we’ve got it. Cramps and injury continues to plague us but a good win today. It’s a win but it’s hard to jump as Chelsea was awful and sloppy at best congrats to the boys. Back four and deeper line seems to make sense after all.

  22. Hopefully Emery will now consign the three centre back system to the bin on a permanent basis and use a flat back four in future.So sorry for Bellerin .It looks a bad long term injury.No need to use Lichsteiner however.AMN ,Elneny and even Iwobi can do a better job in defence.The win today was a victory for hard work and determination.Well done boys.

    1. Iwobi always puts in a good shift, he rarely falters. Always ready to step up and play wherever the manager and team needs him to but hopefully not s a full back, although he did get an assist against Liverpool from that position, unlike Ozil who if isn’t played in a no10 role is useless. I hope Jenkinson can step up, anyone but Lichestein .

  23. So apparently Suarez is out of the squad for tomorrow’s game & he has liked all the player’s tweets about beating Chelsea! Is he on his way to North London?

  24. Good win today, with great team effort by all, including a clean sheet. Hopefully with 4 fully fit CB’s Arsenal can build on this result and develop better teamwork and consistency at the back. I am gutted that Bellerin has suffered a bad injury.
    Lacazette’s goal showed great control, turn to beat Pedro and excellent strike. Koscielny’s goal resulted from a beautifully flighted cross from Socrates. The worry is the misfiring Aubameyang, but at least he is getting into scoring positions, so hopefully the goals will come. Ramsey played well against Jordinho, keeping him quiet. Rio Ferdinand post match stated again that everyone he speaks to says what a good coach unai Emery is, and that he needs to be supported in transfer windows.
    It apears that those who want Emery sacked are again not supported by anyone who knows football.

  25. I’m sad that noone has mentioned those too PERFECT tackles by Auba on hazard and the many times laca won the ball back while facing our goal.Kolasinac (Sue’s boyfriend ) was a tank as always,I laughed when he annilated pedro,the only player that was bullied was Torreira with no help from the ref

  26. top four is crucial to us we couldn’t afford dropping points at home,thie next coming games in the Epl are to played with the seriousness we’ve seen against chelsea today…getting back to the elite league is a bonus in terms of our financial muscle..

  27. Aubamayang was awesome,he made so many tacklea and won so many balls back from hazard,and for those who says we don’t create enough chances I really don’t know the match you guys watched.

    1. You’re so right about Aubameyang’s effort effort today; I hope he can keep it up and it is a positive reaction, following the rightfull criticism he received for his effort against West Ham. All Arsenal need now is Aubameyang to find his shooting boots again; he could have scored 3 today.

  28. Ooh my big game Ramsey,am so going to miss you,what a professional display by Ramsey,for a guy whose contract was withdrawn from him still gives all his all for the club he loves,to me he’s a legend,he was excellent yesterday unlike some past players (van per sir,Alex Sanchez)I will always love you boy,ooh my kolasinac he loves to bully,koscieny reminds me why I love him,sokratis that celebration for blocking a goal scoring attempts was world class,unai emery really showed why he’s the tactics master,I love my arsenal I love my arsenal wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

  29. so we need ozil in the westham game because we didnt create chances but today because we won one match you say we didnt need him. woww

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