Drogba sends Chelsea on top again

Thanks to two goals by Didier Drogba, Chelsea won Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and is top of the English Premier again.

 

Match Report by ILIAS

 

1st half analysis

The Blues fans couldn’t have asked for a better start. Chelsea won a corner at 7’, Malouda took it nicely, Terry got the first header and guess who… Didier Drogba being completely unmarked on the far post continued his goal spree against Arsenal. That was his 11th goal in 10 matches against the Gunners! Chelsea was up front early in the game and Arsenal needed to come out and play if they wanted to get a result. The pressure was already on them.

 

They nearly did it at 17’ but Arshavin got beaten by Cech’s legs on a remarkable 1on1 situation. Fabregas found the Russian in the very heart of Chelsea’s defence completely unmarked but Arshavin sent the ball straight to Cech! The Russian really should have scored that one.

 

Arsenal made the same exact mistake they did against ManUtd. As soon as they conceded the first goal, they all instantly went forward as if there was no time left in the game.  The lesson given by the Red Devils didn’t do any good to them. Chelsea caught the Gunners on the break with Lampard pacing enormously, passing it to Drogba who cut inside going past Clichy as if the Frenchman was never there and blasting it to the back of the net of Almunia with a powerful left shot. Game over already?

Not much happened until the end of the 1st half, apart from a head collision between Malouda and Vermaelen which wasn’t anything serious.

 

2nd half analysis

A great chance for Arsenal went wasted at 60’ when Arshavin found Nasri in the penalty box with only Cech to beat, but the Frenchman hesitated to take the shot and got blocked eventually by Cole. Fabregas also took a free kick nicely at 69’ but Chech was alerted and dived low to his left corner to turn it away.

Despite the ball possession, Arsenal didn’t do pretty much to show off themselves and prove they are serious title chasers. Drogba showed once again he’s among the top-3 strikers in the world, not just because of his style of play, his strength and his power both high and low but also because big players show up in big matches.

The Ivorian nearly made hat-trick at 83 but his free kick sent the ball straight to the woodwork with Almunia only watching. Moments later Anelka missed a good chance to put his name on the scoresheet as his shot from the penalty box went high.

Chelsea won easier as I expected and whether the Gunners are out of the title race we will surely know in 3 days. Credit should also go to John Terry. Despite all the media pressure and hailing, Terry showed some class today again. It was so obvious he wanted to prove something. In the end he went over to the Harding Stand and threw himself to the fans who backed him so much today with their chants.

Man of the Match: Didier Drogba

Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Carvalho, Cole, Ballack (Zhirkov 81) Mikel Obi, Lampard, Anelka (Joe Cole 87), Malouda, Drogba (Kalou 91).
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna (Eboue 74), Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Fabregas, Song, Diaby (Rosicky 74), Walcott (Bendtner 64), Arshavin, Nasri

P.S. You know that football is the king of all sports when Matt Damon is at Stamford Bridge on a Superbowl day.