Chelsea bounce back with win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge
Published:
Another win over fierce rivals Arsenal saw Chelsea comfortably take the three points off Arsene Wenger’s side, making it five games in which the Gunners have failed to score against the Blues.
In what could definitely be billed as ‘The Battle of Stamford Bridge’ after a heated affair, Chelsea got back to winning ways in the Premier League, though not before any drama occurred.
Although it was goalless at half time following a relatively lacklustre first period in footballing terms, Diego Costa was once again the centre of attention for the wrong reasons.
Making himself a nuisance once more, he provoked first Laurent Koscielny then Gabriel Paulista, before the latter retaliated with a small, yet significant leg flick to be dismissed by the referee, deep into stoppage time, to the dismay of his boss.
It was Paulista’s second booking having clashed with Costa moments earlier after the centre forward provoked an aggrieved response.
In the second period, Arsenal attempted to make an impact on the match, often playing on the break, however, Kurt Zouma playing in place of John Terry was alert to any major attacks and astutely sniffed out any chances.
Chelsea, though, made their one-man advantage count on 52 minutes, following a fantastic free-kick delivery from Cesc Fabregas who found the head of Zouma as the centre back nodded past former Chelsea keeper Petr Cech. Eden Hazard was time and again a menace for the Blues often drawing fouls and finally looked back to the player he was last season.
As the Gunners attempted to get back into the match, one of the best chances was perhaps from Alexis Sanchez who got on the end of a long ball which confused the Blues backline, however the Chilean was unable to test Asmir Begovic, who he bagged a brace against last season.
However, when Santi Cazorla was shown a second yellow card for his challenge on Fabregas, it became clear that it wasn’t going to be Arsenal’s day and the result was tied up when Hazard’s deflected shot found the net as the game started to draw to a close. The Gunners have work to do.
