Arsenal 1-4 CHELSEA: Chelsea Stroll At The Emirates?

ARSENAL 1-4 CHELSEA

There was something a little too deja vu for comfort at the start of this game with us struggling to get a touch of the ball as we soaked up some sustained pressure from Arsenal for the first 20 minutes. Petr Cech looked on good form though and was quick off his line when he needed to be.

Then something unusual happened in the 28^th minute, Fabregas gave away a free kick and got himself booked for bitching.  But obviously there’s nothing unusual about that – no, the unusual bit was Arsenal conceding at the Emirates for the first time since December in the league. The free kick saw Didier Drogba curl it in to Alex, who’s header up under the bar gave Fabianski no chance. 1-0 up then against the run of play but who cares?

Fabregas was lucky not to get himself a second yellow with a bit of a lunge on Malouda just moments later but if that was fortunate from Arsenal’s point of view, the 39^th minute wasn’t. Picking up the ball just inside their half, Nicolas Anelka went on a determined run towards Arsenal’s goal, and with everyone in a red shirt seemingly backing off, he lashed a bending 25-yard shot past the keeper.

So, 2-0 up at the break and it was all going surprisingly well for a change. Surely it couldn’t last?

Well, apparently it could because just four minutes into the second half as if to add insult to injury, Ashley Cole went on a run down the left, crossing into the penalty area where he found a very generous Toure waiting to score our third for us.

Petr Cech did some decent work to keep it at 3-0 until the 70^th minute when Bendtner headed in Bacary Sagna’s cross to give Arsenal a consolation goal. Adebayor went looking for a penalty instead of staying on his feet in the last five minutes but his poor attempt to fool the officials only bit him on the arse when Chelsea’s subsequent break saw Florent Malouda tap home Anelka’s ricochet off the post. Ok, so it was offside but again, who gives a toss? It might have affected the overall score but the outcome was only going one way from the start of the second half anyway.

So, 4-1 signalled Arsenal’s heaviest defeat at the Emirates and Chelsea’s automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Job done.