BlueLion.

Absolutely, we should have sold Hazard in January because he did fuck all before the turn of the year!

Which is entirely possible.

That's another excellent point. Luiz is almost too good a footballer not to play - and if he's in the midfield, at least there's the chance the team can recover from a misjudgement.

Starting to look like a bit of a player now, isn't he? Inconsistency is his biggest issue, but as Mourinho has said, he was always going to need a lot of time to adjust to the demands the manager is making of him. Well done Andre, well done.

This should do him a world of good, in terms of his confidence. Nothing like a goal to boost you!

Love love love love LOVE this guy in the pivot next to Matic. Fuck off do we need to spend £35 million on Witsel or some other "dynamic" box to box midfielder. This guy is class there. A far better option than Ramires (who is too inconsistent) and Lampard (who sadly is now too old to play consistently and/or on a regular basis).

Two assists from a midfield destroyer? Maybe his all-round competence is better than we (certainly I) give him credit for. He definitely plays better with Luiz next to him though. He doesn't have to be so defensively responsible, because unlike Ramires or Lampard, Luiz has the intelligence and the speed to recover from a forward run.

A fair point to make - but I'd counter that by saying we're more compact defensively with him in the team. But then again, as much as we like to see our forwards track back, they're there to contribute in an offensive sense aren't they? I suppose its based on what you want to see from your attackers - goals and glory, or guts and grit.

Possibly. I'm trying to make them more concise - match reports should be sharp and to-the-point rather than be too analytical!

Brilliant metaphor, I think that sums him up to a tee.

Obviously not too bad a pull if he came out for the second half. If it was bad he'd have stayed in medical.

And you'll just be a shit Moderator of TalkChelsea if you keep this up, child

The fact he is only nine months older than I am depresses the fuck out of me.

Matic and Luiz again proving they're the best midfield duo we have. P.S.: Save of the season

If Courtois made it people would be wanking themselves into a coma, just saying!

I wanted to say "Abysmal Arsenal absolutely anally annihilated" but thought that might be a bit OTT

No praise for Cech? Instead of being 2-0 up we might have been 0-1 down very early on. Excellent save.

For some reason none of the links are working! Can't be arsed re-doing them though

Arsene Wenger's 1000th game in charge of Arsenal will be remembered only for the way in which his side was effectively knocked out of the title race by a rampant Chelsea. The Frenchman's big day got off to the worst possible start as goals from Samuel Eto'o and Andre Schurrle inside the first seven minutes gave Chelsea a seemingly unassailable lead even that early on. And his day was made even worse when a case of mistaken identity saw Kieran Gibbs mistakenly sent off - after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain deliberately hand-balled to turn aside an Eden Hazard effort just after the quarter-hour mark. Hazard converted from the spot with consummate ease, before Oscar handed José Mourinho's side a fourth goal with half-time looming after excellent work by substitute Fernando Torres. The Brazilian then added his second with 66 minutes played, before January signing Mohamed Salah notched his first strike for the club when he ran through one-on-one. A 6-0 score at full-time does not flatter Chelsea, who simply tore their opponents to shreds. Many will point to the dismissal of Gibbs after just seventeen minutes as a turning point, but the Blues had already amassed a two-goal lead by that point and the signs were evident even at that stage that this could be another heavy defeat for the visitors. Thumped 6-3 by Manchester City and more recently suffering a 5-1 reverse at Anfield, another capitulation here demonstrates that Arsenal are still some way from a prolonged title challenge. Five points clear at the top of the league in November, the Gunners now sit a hefty seven points adrift of table-topping Chelsea. For the Blues, this represents a massive win over another title rival, but on a day acknowledging Wenger's considerable contribution to English football, it comes as little surprise that party-pooper supreme Mourinho should rain on the Frenchman's parade. This result is the Special One's biggest-ever win in charge of Chelsea, surpassing the 6-1 thrashing of Macclesfield Town in 2007. Most importantly, however, is the fact the Blues have considerably caught up with the goal differences of Manchester City and Liverpool. Their return of +39 is now just two shy of Brendan Rodger's men, whilst City sit just ahead of both sides with a difference of +44. In a season of tight margins, goal difference may well prove decisive. For Mourinho, a man usually incredibly cautious in big matches, the start his side produced may have felt like something of a dream - but the Portuguese is indebted to Petr Cech for a fabulous early save from Olivier Giroud's goalbound effort. It was in just the fifth minute when Eto'o picked the ball up, cutting inside the full-back before deliciously threading the ball high beyond Wojciech Szczesny. Just 133 seconds later, Schurrle had powered forward and hit an equally sumptuous strike into the bottom corner. Benefiting from a typically swift Chelsea counter, the German opted to shoot early from the edge of the box, and by the time Szczesny - his vision impaired by a sea of bodies - realised the danger, the ball was nestling in the net. Celebrations were muted by a muscle injury sustained by Eto'o, but the Cameroonian, applauded off the pitch for his 11th goal of the season, thankfully emerged in the second half and took up a position in the dugout alongside his manager. Fernando Torres entered the fray in his place, but rather than the enforced change affecting the Blues' attacking mentality, through the industry of the Spanish forward the intensity actually only increased - and it was not long before the score was 3-0. Hazard stroked home his sixteenth goal of the season from the penalty spot after his shot was palmed away off the line, yet not by Szczesny, but rather by Oxlade-Chamberlain. After a moment's consideration, referee Andre Marriner correctly awarded the spot-kick before accidentally dismissing the wrong man. With Arsenal in disarray and staring down the barrel of yet another hammering at the hands of a title rival, Oscar added salt into already gaping wounds when he capitalised on excellent wing play from Torres to lash high beyond the goalkeeper. A half-time score of 4-0 flattered the visitors. Playing for pride, Arsenal emerged after the break with remarkable vigour, but it seemed only a matter of time before the Blues' bloodlust paid dividends. Oscar was again the beneficiary as he fired home a shot that squirmed under the hands of Szczesny with 66 on the clock. The Poland international, deceived by the bounce, really ought to have made the save. Five minutes later things turned from bad to worse to even worse for the visitors as Salah, intelligently arcing his run, converted when one-on-one with the goalkeeper to complete the rout with aplomb. The Egyptian's first goal for the club, in just his fourth substitute appearance, is a positive indicator of the former Basel man's quality. After first Tuesday's win over Galatasaray and now this - Chelsea's biggest ever win over Arsenal - confidence will be sky high at Cobham on Monday morning. For Arsenal, contrastingly, the title, which may never have realistically been in reach anyway, is now almost definitely too big an ask. There will most definitely be no on-the-pitch selfie from Szczesny today. Click here to view the article

The thing that saddens me is I remember back to deadline day 2011, and all the excitement. I celebrate a Torres goal more than anyone else's, because there's a part of me that just hopes he can put just one good run together. But it isn't ever going to happen. He'll leave in the summer, and he won't even have scored 50 goals to match his £50 million price tag. Such a shame. As a rule of thumb I refuse to get excited over transfers anymore. Aim low and avoid disappointment.

This is the game of the season for us. Fail to win (even a draw would be a bad result IMO, in the context of the title race) and I think that would relegate us to third-favourites behind City and 'Pool for the title. We quite basically have to win. City are 6 behind with three games in hand - there's a good chance United will take points off them in the Manchester derby, though, plus they have to go to a few difficult away matches. Yes, we'll only have Liverpool left after this, but my point is if City still have 3 games in hand on us and we fail to maintain the six-point gap, it could be looking like 3 matches to make up a 3/4 point cushion. That leaves them room for mistakes, and will seriously ease the pressure off. We can't afford for that to happen. The way we have to think about the title is that we're actually in second place, playing catch-up. I know that sounds insane, but think about it, in a real world the least amount of points City will get from Sunderland [h], Villa [h] and United [a] is very probably 7 points. Worst-case scenario is 6, but equally there's a great chance a team as good as them will pick up all 9. So we need to maintain the pressure - if we make all their games must-wins, there is a chance they may crumble under the pressure.

I'm delighted with this draw because I think it pitches the two most evenly-balanced sides in the competition against each other. Both us and PSG are nowhere near the finished article. But both teams are committed to playing attacking football - whichever way the tie goes, it'll be one to enjoy, with a lot of goals.

I tried doing that with some of the keepers I coach on Thursday. Half of them looked like they wanted to cry.

Totally agreed with the above post. The boy is young, and I think he is still developing physically. He still could do with a bit of beefing up. Mentally as well, I think he struggles in terms of his confidence.

Arsenal aren't very good at coping against African strikers at Stamford Bridge!