A big moment for Arsene Wenger as he celebrates two decades at Arsenal. In his first campaign in charge, his side beat Chelsea 3-0. Ian Wright, David Platt and Dennis Bergkamp all scored in April 1997 with the likes of Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Dan Petrescu featuring for the Blues.
Something similar today will go down very well with the Frenchman, whose side have recovered well after that opening day loss to Liverpool.
Arsenal have made 11 changes from the side that easily beat Nottingham Forest midweek. That means that Granit Xhaka – who has looked very good since his £35m summer move – is on the bench alongside Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
One huge aspect to this game will be Arsenal’s discipline. They’ve had four players sent-off in their last five league outings against Chelsea and Diego Costa is a constant irritant for the Gunners.
It’s imperative they retain 11 players on the pitch. Otherwise, they could be in trouble.
CLOSE! Nice pressure from Arsenal and it leads to Santi Cazorla picks it up about 25 yards out, jinks inside and onto his left and cracks a shot towards goal. Courtois is close enough to it and beats the ball clear with a decent save.
24 Sep 2016
5:40PM
There’s a decent spark to this early on. Alexis Sanchez gets a shot in that’s deflected for a corner after Theo Walcott, briefly, opened things up with a direct run towards goal. Good from Arsenal so far. Chelsea giving themselves relief high up the pitch as the home side concede some cheap fouls, though.
Arsenal, in a very un-Arsenal way, keep the momentum up and get their reward. Gary Cahill is closed down by Sanchez and his attempted back-pass is intercepted. Faced with Courtois, the Chilean just carefully dinks it over the keeper to the far corner. Delicious finish and Arsenal are good value for the lead.
Wow. Antonio Conte strokes his chin and grimaces on the sideline as his Chelsea defence absolutely crumbles here.
Arsenal threaten on the edge of the area and Bellerin’s run isn’t tracked. Defenders are all over the place as the full-back races onto the ball and sends in the low cross for Walcott to tap home.
2-0 after 14 minutes and Chelsea are in serious trouble.
CLOSE! There’s a little reminder about how quickly things could change here. Willian picks up the pass in the right channel and flashes the shot towards the far post. He doesn’t miss by much.
24 Sep 2016
5:55PM
Another warning for Arsenal as Willian is in acres of space again. Monreal is caught out of position again and but for the Brazilian’s unselfishness (he tries to tee-up Hazard rather than shoot himself), it could’ve been 2-1.
BOOKING! Arsenal are cutting through Chelsea so easily. This time, Alex Iwobi races clear of Ivanovic and has his legs clipped on the edge of the area. Yellow card for the defender and a decent chance for Arsenal from the free-kick here.
Coquelin was brave in a 50-50 challenge earlier but it was an almighty bang to his foot and, despite trying to run it off, he has to go off now. Big summer signing Xhaka is introduced.
24 Sep 2016
6:08PM
Conte with his head in his hands on the Chelsea bench as his defence is getting no screening whatsoever. Every time Arsenal play through them, they’re creating chances. Still 10 minutes left in the half. It could get worse for the guests.
This is absolutely incredible. It’s like Chelsea have never played the game before. One minute, they’re on the edge of the Arsenal box. The next, Ozil picks the ball up, turns and it’s two-v-two. He slips in Sanchez before making a diagonal run to the far post. Sanchez lofts over a perfect cross as Luiz and Cahill are all over the place. Ozil hits the volley into the ground but it kisses the far post and settles in the net.
CLOSE! Cech doesn’t cover himself in glory as he manages a weak punch from the in-swinging corner. It drops for Hazard who smacks a full volley towards goal but it hits the side-net. Lucky escape for Arsenal.
Well. That was…unexpected. Chelsea have had no answer to Arsenal’s movement which, to be honest, hasn’t exactly been earth-shattering. There’s been a complete lack of positional discipline and awareness and even before Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring, the Gunners looked threatening.
Once that first goal went in, though, Chelsea have collapsed. There is no leadership, no player communicating anything to team-mates – just a collection of puzzled faces.
To be a fly on the wall in the Chelsea dressing room! Antonio Conte will be absolutely livid!
CLOSE! This is a real disaster. With one pass, Walcott appears in the right channel with no one filling the left-back zone for Chelsea. He brings the ball into the area and, inexplicably, lofts it into the air looking for Sanchez. Sending in a low cross or shooting himself were better options.
Embarrassing for the Spaniard who lasts 54 minutes against his former club. His midweek brace against Leicester seems a brief, momentary flickering of light.
24 Sep 2016
6:51PM
Looking at Arsenal’s next few games, they could really build some nice momentum here.
VERY CLOSE! Walcott is slipped through again after a quick free-kick and shows his strength to hold off a half-challenge. He tries to put it across Courtois to the far corner but the Belgian keeper does well to stick out a leg and make a decent stop.
SUBSTITUTIONS! Gibbs (on) – Iwobi (off) & Pedro and Batshuayi (on) – Willian and Hazard (off)
20 minutes left and Antonio Conte makes his final changes. Iwobi has been very good for Arsenal and is surely being kept fresh for Basel next week.
24 Sep 2016
7:03PM
Wonderful tracking back from Bellerin who shows his explosive pace to shadow Pedro before diving in for a perfectly-timed challenge. A metaphor for Arsenal today who have been excellent right around the field.
CLOSE! Batshuayi shows his pace and directness and races through on goal but Cech does well to come out and save. Decent stop and a first shot on target from Chelsea.
BOOKING! An inevitable yellow card for Diego Costa after complaining to Michael Oliver for what he perceived as a foul by Laurent Koscielny. Pretty tame stuff, really.
Shocking evening from Chelsea but incredibly impressive from Arsenal. 3-0 up half-time, you expected the guests to come back into it, enjoy a spell of dominance and probably score.
But Wenger’s side were so dominant at the back and never gave Costa et al anything up front.
Coupled with that, they continued to threaten and open up Chelsea so easily. Inevitably, they dropped to second gear after the break and they cruised over the finish line.
Huge concerns for Conte, though he will take some solace from how they dealt with a switch to three at the back and the Italian may choose to stay with that system going forward.
With some decent fixtures ahead, Arsenal can really build up some nice momentum over the next few weeks.
Thanks for staying with us throughout our coverage. More reaction on the site throughout the night.
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As it happened: Arsenal v Chelsea, Premier League
Good afternoon, friends.
A big moment for Arsene Wenger as he celebrates two decades at Arsenal. In his first campaign in charge, his side beat Chelsea 3-0. Ian Wright, David Platt and Dennis Bergkamp all scored in April 1997 with the likes of Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola and Dan Petrescu featuring for the Blues.
Something similar today will go down very well with the Frenchman, whose side have recovered well after that opening day loss to Liverpool.
Plenty of team news to bring you.
Arsenal have made 11 changes from the side that easily beat Nottingham Forest midweek. That means that Granit Xhaka – who has looked very good since his £35m summer move – is on the bench alongside Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
For Chelsea, Cesc Fabregas is handed a first league start of the season after his brace midweek against Leicester.
It’s a strong-looking group with Diego Costa supported by Eden Hazard and Willian, with Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante holding in midfield.
One huge aspect to this game will be Arsenal’s discipline. They’ve had four players sent-off in their last five league outings against Chelsea and Diego Costa is a constant irritant for the Gunners.
It’s imperative they retain 11 players on the pitch. Otherwise, they could be in trouble.
KICK-OFF!
Early intent from the hosts as Monreal forces a corner after good work down the left side.
CLOSE! Nice pressure from Arsenal and it leads to Santi Cazorla picks it up about 25 yards out, jinks inside and onto his left and cracks a shot towards goal. Courtois is close enough to it and beats the ball clear with a decent save.
There’s a decent spark to this early on. Alexis Sanchez gets a shot in that’s deflected for a corner after Theo Walcott, briefly, opened things up with a direct run towards goal. Good from Arsenal so far. Chelsea giving themselves relief high up the pitch as the home side concede some cheap fouls, though.
GOAL! Alexis Sanchez!
Arsenal, in a very un-Arsenal way, keep the momentum up and get their reward. Gary Cahill is closed down by Sanchez and his attempted back-pass is intercepted. Faced with Courtois, the Chilean just carefully dinks it over the keeper to the far corner. Delicious finish and Arsenal are good value for the lead.
GOAL! Walcott!
Wow. Antonio Conte strokes his chin and grimaces on the sideline as his Chelsea defence absolutely crumbles here.
Arsenal threaten on the edge of the area and Bellerin’s run isn’t tracked. Defenders are all over the place as the full-back races onto the ball and sends in the low cross for Walcott to tap home.
2-0 after 14 minutes and Chelsea are in serious trouble.
CLOSE! There’s a little reminder about how quickly things could change here. Willian picks up the pass in the right channel and flashes the shot towards the far post. He doesn’t miss by much.
Another warning for Arsenal as Willian is in acres of space again. Monreal is caught out of position again and but for the Brazilian’s unselfishness (he tries to tee-up Hazard rather than shoot himself), it could’ve been 2-1.
BOOKING! Arsenal are cutting through Chelsea so easily. This time, Alex Iwobi races clear of Ivanovic and has his legs clipped on the edge of the area. Yellow card for the defender and a decent chance for Arsenal from the free-kick here.
SUBSTITUTION! Xhaka (on) – Coquelin (off)
Coquelin was brave in a 50-50 challenge earlier but it was an almighty bang to his foot and, despite trying to run it off, he has to go off now. Big summer signing Xhaka is introduced.
Conte with his head in his hands on the Chelsea bench as his defence is getting no screening whatsoever. Every time Arsenal play through them, they’re creating chances. Still 10 minutes left in the half. It could get worse for the guests.
GOAL! Ozil!
This is absolutely incredible. It’s like Chelsea have never played the game before. One minute, they’re on the edge of the Arsenal box. The next, Ozil picks the ball up, turns and it’s two-v-two. He slips in Sanchez before making a diagonal run to the far post. Sanchez lofts over a perfect cross as Luiz and Cahill are all over the place. Ozil hits the volley into the ground but it kisses the far post and settles in the net.
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CLOSE! Cech doesn’t cover himself in glory as he manages a weak punch from the in-swinging corner. It drops for Hazard who smacks a full volley towards goal but it hits the side-net. Lucky escape for Arsenal.
HALF-TIME!
Well. That was…unexpected. Chelsea have had no answer to Arsenal’s movement which, to be honest, hasn’t exactly been earth-shattering. There’s been a complete lack of positional discipline and awareness and even before Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring, the Gunners looked threatening.
Once that first goal went in, though, Chelsea have collapsed. There is no leadership, no player communicating anything to team-mates – just a collection of puzzled faces.
To be a fly on the wall in the Chelsea dressing room! Antonio Conte will be absolutely livid!
SECOND HALF!
No changes for Chelsea at the break. But some players won’t have long out there if they don’t pick things up.
BT commentator references Fabregas as he takes a touch. I had completely forgotten he started this game. He’s been invisible.
CLOSE! This is a real disaster. With one pass, Walcott appears in the right channel with no one filling the left-back zone for Chelsea. He brings the ball into the area and, inexplicably, lofts it into the air looking for Sanchez. Sending in a low cross or shooting himself were better options.
SUBSTITUTION! Alonso (on) – Fabregas (off)
Embarrassing for the Spaniard who lasts 54 minutes against his former club. His midweek brace against Leicester seems a brief, momentary flickering of light.
Looking at Arsenal’s next few games, they could really build some nice momentum here.
By the way, Chelsea have now switched to three centre-backs – Ivanovic, Cahill and Luiz with Azpilicueta on the right flank and Alonso on the left.
VERY CLOSE! Walcott is slipped through again after a quick free-kick and shows his strength to hold off a half-challenge. He tries to put it across Courtois to the far corner but the Belgian keeper does well to stick out a leg and make a decent stop.
SUBSTITUTIONS! Gibbs (on) – Iwobi (off) & Pedro and Batshuayi (on) – Willian and Hazard (off)
20 minutes left and Antonio Conte makes his final changes. Iwobi has been very good for Arsenal and is surely being kept fresh for Basel next week.
Wonderful tracking back from Bellerin who shows his explosive pace to shadow Pedro before diving in for a perfectly-timed challenge. A metaphor for Arsenal today who have been excellent right around the field.
SUBSTITUTION! Giroud (on) – Sanchez (off)
The Chilean has been superb and his opening goal led to the first-half deluge that stunned Chelsea. A wonderful assist for the Ozil goal too.
CLOSE! Batshuayi shows his pace and directness and races through on goal but Cech does well to come out and save. Decent stop and a first shot on target from Chelsea.
BOOKING! An inevitable yellow card for Diego Costa after complaining to Michael Oliver for what he perceived as a foul by Laurent Koscielny. Pretty tame stuff, really.
Whoops!
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FULL-TIME!
Shocking evening from Chelsea but incredibly impressive from Arsenal. 3-0 up half-time, you expected the guests to come back into it, enjoy a spell of dominance and probably score.
But Wenger’s side were so dominant at the back and never gave Costa et al anything up front.
Coupled with that, they continued to threaten and open up Chelsea so easily. Inevitably, they dropped to second gear after the break and they cruised over the finish line.
Huge concerns for Conte, though he will take some solace from how they dealt with a switch to three at the back and the Italian may choose to stay with that system going forward.
With some decent fixtures ahead, Arsenal can really build up some nice momentum over the next few weeks.
Thanks for staying with us throughout our coverage. More reaction on the site throughout the night.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
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