The Stamford Bridge Diaries – The Arsenal perspective - Part 2
After being let off the hook easy, Arsenal continued to turn up the heat. Rosicky was introduced for Diaby. This meant a change to the system. While Diaby might have started the game furthest forward of the midfield players,
it appeared that Nasri would take that spot and act as a ‘free’ player. This was a very positive move. Diaby with his height might have guaranteed physical presence up front, but Nasri offered the trickery to get past players and create an opportunity out
of nothing, something that he had done extremely well in pre season. Rosicky settled on the left while Arshavin swapped wings and was seen on the right of Chamakh.
The tempo increased; Rosicky was able to make his signature one two’s high up the field, causing a temporary confusion in the Chelsea ranks. The Czech Republic international was also able to fire some shots at his countryman
and looked sharp overall. Nasri, with license to drift in and out, was a constant threat. It looked all set for a nervy last 20 minutes. Jay Emanuel Thomas was handed his Premier League debut at age 19. The tall, left footed youngster was reputed to play almost
anywhere; Centre Forward, free role, on the wing, centre of midfield. It was obviously an attacking and somewhat bold move by Arsene Wenger.
However, then the unthinkable happened.
Koscielny fouled just at the 30 yard mark, almost dead centre of goal. It felt rather relieving seeing Drogba not taking the spot kick. However, such a feeling was short lived as Alex fired a rocket that almost tore the netting
apart. Chelsea had a 2-0 lead. The noise at Stamford Bridge was almost deafening; Arsenal fans’ shocked silence didn’t help either. With 5 minutes of regular time on the clock, it felt too little too late to stage a comeback. While Drogba had proved his liking
for playing against Arsenal, delivering time and time again, Alex too, had a good record against the Gunners. Alex, in his PSV days was single handedly responsible for knocking Arsenal out of the Champions League in the 2007-2008 season. The versatile defender
was able to score home and away that time.
What followed was cold disappointment, frustration even. After supposedly evolving every season, our record against our North London rivals was further met with a blow. The story was the same; play extremely well… dominate
possession… look fancy… fail to contain Drogba… be undone from a high ball, cross and a spot kick… and eventually lose the match.
Here is what the Arsenal manager had to say:
"We have to give Chelsea credit today because they took advantage up front. They were much more clinical. But the game should have been over before it had started - we had the first two chances in the first minute and I don't
know how we missed that header from six yards.”
It didn’t take rocket science to figure Arsenal’s recurring pattern in seasons after the 2005 FA cup. The Community Shield saw Drogba as villain more than once, Premiere League clashes, the Carling Cup final at Wembley; on
all these occasions Chelsea proved to be able to physically dominate the Arsenal defense. We made chances as the Frenchman clearly commented, but we also missed an equivalent amount. While the entire momentum of the team was going forward to create scoring
opportunities, the defense was often seen rather light. The fact that the team failed to register a goal to their name, made it all the more pointless.
The Arsenal manager further went on to say, "There are many positives from the game because we dominated this game quite surprisingly in my opinion. But we go home with zero points and if you look at the way we threw two
points away at Sunderland the other week and now this week you see that despite our quality it is not enough."
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