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VIEW MATCH REPORT

Monday 19 Dec 2005
Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea
Arsenal on the day were just not good enough, as Arjen Robben and Joe Cole underline that Chelsea are not in a hurry to relinquish their Premiership crown.

The Gunners were pinned down from the off, surviving a relentless barrage from Chelsea, despite they may have taken the lead when Thierry Henry hit the post.

The Gooners had further cause to feel unlucky when Robin van Persies goal was ruled out for offside, Thierry Henry was clearly a good 10 yards of side but not interfering with play, Van Persie ran through and was just on side as the ball was kicked.

It was not to be and the game was for all intents and purposes put beyond them when Robben slid the ball home on 40 minutes.

Chelsea doubled their lead on 80 minutes when Lauren playing make shift left back, turned the wrong way and Joe Cole managed to muscle through, jink and bend the ball with his left foot past the diving Lehmann.

The defeat means Arsenal have now lost three Premiership games in a row for the first time under Wenger.

They have also failed to score in their last four matches in all competitions are placed eighth place in the league, 20 points behind Chelsea. It seems a long time since they went 49 games unbeaten and had the English domestic scene sown up. Maybe a case of a stadium at all costs for the Gunners.

This said it was a great game to watch, with passion, power and precision. The only down side might be the number of players that suffer from Premiership glass jaw. Any contact with a players face resulted in the said player rolling around on the floor clutching their chin. Whilst team mates crowded the referee calling for assault charges to be brought.

Jose Mourinho's champions dominated early on, with Cole, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Michael Essien creating good scoring chances.

Arsenal were hanging on at times but showed their class by almost scoring a goal with their first attack after 20 minutes.
Alexander Hleb fed Henry, who shrugged off Ricardo Carvalho before flicking the ball past Petr Cech, with an improvised shot, unlike Chelseas two goals his effort came back off the post.

Seconds later the ball was in the Chelsea net, Van Persie running on to Freddie Ljungberg's pass and firing home only to have his effort disallowed.
Van Persie, clearly onside and it was not clear whether the linesman was flagging for him, or for Henry, who was walking back from an offside position, but the goal was ruled out. Oh how things might have been different.

Chelseas first goal came as Drogba looked up and set Robben free and the flying Dutchman headed for goal, sliding the ball under Lehmann and into the net via the post.

After the break the Gunners pushed up, and Chelsea duly made the most of the space. Robben wasting two opportunities in quick succession. One mystified the pundits, seemingly clean through he pulled the ball back for Joe Cole, who was always going to struggle to make up the ground. The second time possibly due to his earlier miss placed charity, he went for goal when it might have been better to play in Drogba.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger gambled soon after bringing on Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp with 20 minutes left.

But the game was put out of his reach almost imediatly when Cole stole possession from Lauren and cut inside from the right before curling his shot in off the post. A fantastic goal, which underlines Coles development over the past 12 months. England awaits.

There were more chances but it is now Chelsea who have all the cards in the Premiership race. Ferguson can talk it up, but Chelsea are not Keegans Newcastle, and Manchester United are not the team they were. As for Arsenal, they are truly paying an astounding price for their new real estate.