Arsenal rumbled by heavyweight Chelsea
Muhammad Ali perfected the famous “rope-a-dope” technique in his bout with George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. Ali simply leant against the ropes, waited for Frazier to punch himself out and then hit him with a flurry of quickly-timed and well-aimed punches. A shattered Foreman couldn’t respond, and Ali had earned one of his most famous victories. They called it the “Rumble in the Jungle”, and 34 years later, a similar tactic was on show at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal didn’t so much punch themselves out of the title race yesterday; they left their defences open and invited Chelsea to knock them out. For all of their pretty football, their seemingly endless build-up play and their easy-on-the-eye passing triangles, there was no cut, no thrust and no indication that they could land the blows that would hurt the Blues. That all came at the other end, where one of the greatest of all time was on show.
His first goal was simple enough, more a case of bad marking than anything, but Didier Drogba was in the right place at the right time to profit from John Terry’s header across the Arsenal goalmouth and put “Team Terry” in front. It was the second that really caught the eye though.
Springing from yet another failed Gunners build-up, Frank Lampard fed Drogba, and from the moment that the Ivorian picked up the ball there wasn’t much doubt over what would happen next. Cutting inside a backpedalling Arsenal defence, Drogba unleashed a shot of such power that it was a surprise that the net stayed in the ground. In one moment, he’d shown Arsenal everything that they were missing.
The Gunners have been unfortunate of course. Robin van Persie, the match-winner in this fixture last season, has been sorely missed by Arsène Wenger’s men, who looked about as blunt as a cardboard knife without him at Stamford Bridge. Their deficiencies can be masked when facing lower-quality opposition – their sheer level of possession ensure that they’ll always create chances – but the signs are that the big boys have found them out.
Manchester United and Chelsea have beaten them well in the last two weeks, while Aston Villa earned a goalless draw in the match before that. Liverpool lie in wait on Wednesday night, and if the Reds were to win then they’ll only be two points behind the Gunners. It was only a month ago that Arsenal were supposed to be heading for glory and Liverpool for the scrapheap. Things can change.
What hasn’t altered though, is Drogba’s quality and will-to-win. Three goals in two games since his return from the African Cup of Nations underline a quality that we always knew was there, but has now been allied to an even greater consistency than before. Twenty-two strikes in 26 appearances this season tell their own story, and with the forward firing knockout blows at the rate he is, then its small wonder that the Blues are odds-on favourites to get another Premier League title under their belt.
Arsenal will have to wait for another one of those, and unless they come out fighting soon – starting from the first bell against Liverpool on Wednesday – then they may have to wait a long time for another shot at the title.
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