Arsenal versus Chelsea Match Report

There was a lot of hype of this game for a while and I have to add that it duly delivered. I personally was looking forward to it because for the most part this could be the season decider. Arsenals needs to win the game to make sure that they are still in the title race. Not even a draw is good enough today. I saw that the team was really pumped up for this and William Gallas had rounded up the boys to give them one last moral boost. It was one of those games which kept your heart beating till the last minute, especially because Manchester United had won their game against Liverpool very convincingly and were looking good for the title run.
Before the game had started there were a lot of comments back and forth. Things were looking equally good for the both sides. The plus point for arsenal was the pundits were favoring them, the ex-arsenal player Thierry Henry had come out and said that arsenal was going to win this too. Other than that Chelsea were yet to win against any of the big sides since Avant Grant had taken over.
The positive thing for Chelsea was that not only were they playing at home, but also they were undefeated at home for 77 games. Their first team was all available for the game including Ashley Cole, who many insisted should sit out the game due to his behavior with the referee in the last game. On the other hand Arsenal was missing their left winger Eduardo. Not only that but arsenal just seem to be crashing lately, with their form not being as good as it was in for the most part of the season.
The first half was pretty quite even though there were a fair number of chances for both sides. Drogba looked good for Chelsea, with his maneuvers and tactics. On the other hand Van Persie made few good passes but nothing much to brag about.
The second half had something for the fans from both sides. Even though it started out a little slow for my liking but it quickly turned into a game we had all wished for. It was in the 58th minute that from a superb corned kick from Cesc Fabregas Willy Sagna headed one into the back of the net. I am sure like my most of the arsenal fans were out of their seats and couldn’t believe their eyes. Had the dream actually become a reality, I think its one of the best feelings I’ve had the entire weekend.
The game seemed pretty simple from here on, Arsenal needed to defend well and play around with Chelsea and the game was theirs. Two quick subs were coming from Avant, Anelka is brought on against his old club for Makelele and Belletti was coming on for Ballack. Something ticked with the subsititions because a minute later the wonder man for Chelsea Didier Drogba nailed one into the back of the net. What an esthetic moment it turned out for Chelsea as Drogba throws his shirt on the side and runs to the fans. Boy had he saved Avant’s record or what. Major error in the defense line and negligence from the referee for not calling it offside led to the goal. How pathetic is this, referees messed up the entire weekend, first with the Liverpool vs. Manu game and then this.
Regardless of all that goal stood and the game was resumed. What came next was a series of Chelsea thrashing on the goal and helpless arsenal boys looking to clear the ball everytime. It was less then ten minutes later that Drogba was feeded the ball again and a wonderful strike lead to another goal. I think was probably the time when arsenal fans should have gotten up and left and I should have turned off my tv. The goal was coming for a while. It had been nearly twenty minutes since Chelsea was driving onto the goal and arsenal had nothing in reply. Ever since the first goal, Chelsea seemed to keep most of the possession and they seemed to be only side attacking. It was really game over here and not much more to add. I have to say that hats off to Avant for making such a major come back and as for Drogba, I don’t even know where to start. He’s shown exactly why he’s such a valuable player for Chelsea and one of the top rated players in the world.
As for arsenal’s chances for the title, my heart says they are still in it because Man Utd. has to play Chelsea and Arsenal and anything could happen in the other games but my mind says that it’s all over because Manchester United is in good form and unfortunately arsenal is not. And not only that but arsenal has dropped down to third position and when you are reigning for the most part of the season and drop down to third position towards the end, the spirits aren’t exactly running high.

Tags: Arsenal, arsenal fc, chelsea, Didier, Drogba, English Premier League, epl, Sagna