Arsenal overcome Chelsea to claim second spot in the Premier League
Arsenal finally managed to shake off their jinx against their London rivals Chelsea, as the Gunners ended the night with a 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were boosted by the inclusion of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, who started together for the first time since August. Things were not looking good for them in defence though, as neither first choice central defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 nor
Sebastien Squillaci, were fit enough to feature in the crucial fixture.
Chelsea on the other hand had positive news of their own, as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Anelka-c27786 however, was an absentee. Significantly though Didier
Drogba, who had scored 13 goals in his last 13 games against Arsenal, started the game.
The game started off with Chelsea dominating play. Owing to their past record against the Gunners, they were understandably confident. Ancelotti’s team came off the back of an impressive 2-0 victory against Wenger’s men earlier this year at Stamford Bridge.
Whether it was the inclusion of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Robin-van-Persie-c31380 and his movement off the ball, or the fact that the Chelsea midfield was a touch rusty, Arsenal began settling in and dominating the midfield battle. Cesc Fabregas was allowed space to venture deep into the
Chelsea half and orchestrate play. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cameroon-c2865 international displayed the hunger to go forward whenever the opportunity
presented itself, and was ever ready to help out in distributing the ball.
The first goal of the match came just before the stroke of half time. Arsenal were given a lot of room at the edge of the penalty box, and managed to thread the ball through. Wilshere’s intricate pass found Song, who thanks to a little luck, netted the ball
into the bottom corner of the net.
The Gunners seemed to carry their first half momentum forward into the next 45 minutes. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786, who could be accused of losing the ball rather cheaply, were made to pay as Fabregas made it 2-0 to the Gunners. Shortly afterwards, a similar build-up saw Theo
Walcott make it 3-0 to the home side. Chelsea however pulled one back soon after, as Drogba’s free kick found Ivanovic, who made no mistake heading in from close range.
The closing stages of the game were rather twitchy, with Chelsea willing to throw the kitchen sink at their opponents to peg their way back. Arsenal on the other hand were more than content at hitting the defending champions on the counter attack.
Both sides had chances in the remainder of the half, however the score line remained unchanged. The full time score at the Emirates was therefore 3-1 to Arsenal. The Gunners go second in the Premier League standings above Manchester City with the win. While
Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United are still top of the table with a game in hand.
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