Closed Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

[J.F. 1,484]

99 problems but arsenal ain't one

[DYC. 7,542]

We don't like shooting, even at the edge of the box we pass about. Mind boggling really

Did you miss the long shots today? Even Zouma took a shot. But the team is still not flowing and they took shooting from outside the box too far. It was forced. It will probably take a couple of games still before automatic pilot kicks back in and things will go about naturally.

Yes. Because its not a Cup Final or something like that. I'm no the typical guy who will only see the bad things after a bad result. Result was good, football was crap. Nothing will change my view about the game today. The good side is Arsenal is do bad, it might not be that difficult to end the season in top 4, after all.

Team don't need a confidence boost, it needs a quality boost.

It's not and it never has been. Arsenal and Utd aren't that good, Liverpool and Tottenham are decent at best. That's why I was never worried about finishing outside the top 4. The only failure is allowing to let the title go so easily.

But I agree with you, a positive result doesn't mean all is well. But I'll take any good result in this poor form. Chelsea were never going to blow away Arsenal or even win with more comfort after losing against the likes of Everton and Palace and a proper beating from City.

What happened has happened. The poor start can not be erased. Get some more wins, preferably and ideally consecutively, and then start looking at performances in general.

[Starman60 1,343]

I wont get too carried away with this result. Although we played well and it has been a vast improvement on the last couple of weeks, we were only playing against 10 men and then nine for the second half. Arsenal do seem to have an inferior complex when they come to the Bridge of late and the sendings off didn't help. I will say that Costa should also have seen red, but the same thing has happened us in the past, so it's karma.
I think next week away to the barcodes will test our mettle and then we will see how much the improvement in form has progressed. Still. I will take today's win and enjoy it.
Happy to see Hazard and Fabregas getting back to form. The futures bright, the futures blue..

[Starman60 1,343]

shit performance, great result.

bego - barely tested and when did, he was upto the mark.

iva - good performance. stuck close to sanchez and fouled him on every occasion that he looked to be turning. decent performance but we cant have 2 defensive full backs playing against the likes of whu, wba, stoke, etc etc. and when the winger is running at him, he looks poor.

zouma - brilliant display and that tackle... wow... good goal too.

GC - another brilliant performance except for when he lost the ball and the confusion between him and zouma.

azpi - azpi-esque performance. enough said.

matic - quite good. broke a lot of arsenal's attacks. but too slow in possesion.

cesc - someone told me he was a "world class" passer. he is so shit, i actually cant believe he is one of the first names on the team sheet considering the fact he is never dropped. how could he have not been able to play costa thru on that counter. unfucking believable. plus if its upto him. we should walk the ball into the net or something. absolutely atrocious.

oscar - MOTM for me. defensively brilliant. good in attack though lost the ball a couple of times in dangerous positions. nonetheless, quite a brilliant performance.

hazard - started the match so poorly. but got into the game. that shot was awesome which was saved by cech. all in all, hopefully, he gets to his best.

pedro - decent. though needs to work on his shooting.

costa - awful. absolutely awful. could and should have been red carded. his "link up play" was awesome again. cant count the number of times he lost the ball in brilliant positions. his "fakes" are so slow and ponderous that its almost laughable to look at.

we were lucky today. nothing else. this game does not solve anything. all our problems are still there. and teams will exploit them time and again.

Nice piece and generally agree mate....Just feel you're a tad harsh on Fabregas. A vastly improved performance from the drivel he was producing I felt.

[Jase 43,479]

Arsenal have a massive inferiority complex against us, even with our defence this season they still didn't look like scoring.

Last 9 matches in all competitions (excluding friendlies).

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

(since Mourinho returned)

Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

[ZOS 580]

I don't like Costa at all. Not because he is a twat (which he clearly is, yet sometimes he is a useful twat), but because he is absolutely CLUELESS when he has the ball. He is a poacher, he should be denied to leave the opponent's box when we are attacking. Every 1 v 1 duel, he loses the ball. His control is a disaster. I hope he gets a 3-4 matches ban, since Mourinho doesn't seem to be ready to drop him.

Nevertheless, good display today. Pedro, Oscar and Hazard had a good day, as well as Cahill. But personally, I love Zouma. Such a beast! MoTM for me.

P.S.: doesn anyone have a gif of that penalty that was not given to us in the first half?

come on dude ... every team has its own thug to do the dirty work. it's been longtime coming but now we have our own ... enjoy bro

[DYC. 7,542]

Last 9 matches in all competitions (excluding friendlies).

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

(since Mourinho returned)

Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

The Shield, aka the English Supercup, is an official match though.

[Cosmin 2,484]

come on dude ... every team has its own thug to do the dirty work. it's been longtime coming but now we have our own ... enjoy bro

I know, but he's taking it too far. And the thug thing doesn't explain his atrocious ball control and the huge amount of lost balls.

[Jase 43,479]

The Shield, aka the English Supercup, is an official match though.

No, it's not. No one considers that as a competitive match.

[zolayes 14,489]

due to work only saw first 10 mins and last 25

on what I saw Zouma was MAGNIFICENT and Hazard looked back to form

[DYC. 7,542]

No, it's not. No one considers that as a competitive match.

How is not an official match? It's an official match in every other country. League winner vs Cup winner to kick off the season. A goal will count in a player's season total.

Unless the rules are different in England. How certain people view a match is irrelevant.

[Kieran. 6,317]

How is not an official match? It's an official match in every other country. League winner vs Cup winner. A goal will count in a player's season total.

Unless the rules are different in England. How certain people view a match is irrelevant.

A goal doesn't count towards the league total in England. If that's what you meant by total.

[DYC. 7,542]

A goal doesn't count towards the league total in England. If that's what you meant by total.

No, I meant goals in all competitions. I'm sure I've seen Supercup goals count in a Messi or Ronaldo total of the season when people/sites get their calculators out.

[ZOS 580]

shit performance, great result.

bego - barely tested and when did, he was upto the mark.

iva - good performance. stuck close to sanchez and fouled him on every occasion that he looked to be turning. decent performance but we cant have 2 defensive full backs playing against the likes of whu, wba, stoke, etc etc. and when the winger is running at him, he looks poor.

zouma - brilliant display and that tackle... wow... good goal too.

GC - another brilliant performance except for when he lost the ball and the confusion between him and zouma.

azpi - azpi-esque performance. enough said.

matic - quite good. broke a lot of arsenal's attacks. but too slow in possesion.

cesc - someone told me he was a "world class" passer. he is so shit, i actually cant believe he is one of the first names on the team sheet considering the fact he is never dropped. how could he have not been able to play costa thru on that counter. unfucking believable. plus if its upto him. we should walk the ball into the net or something. absolutely atrocious.

oscar - MOTM for me. defensively brilliant. good in attack though lost the ball a couple of times in dangerous positions. nonetheless, quite a brilliant performance.

hazard - started the match so poorly. but got into the game. that shot was awesome which was saved by cech. all in all, hopefully, he gets to his best.

pedro - decent. though needs to work on his shooting.

costa - awful. absolutely awful. could and should have been red carded. his "link up play" was awesome again. cant count the number of times he lost the ball in brilliant positions. his "fakes" are so slow and ponderous that its almost laughable to look at.

we were lucky today. nothing else. this game does not solve anything. all our problems are still there. and teams will exploit them time and again.

completely disagree

it was an overall good performance by cesc and Costa. a huge improvement ..

[Etoo fils 45]

We needed to win this game and we've done it.

Great victory, good 3 pts.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Forwards were incredibly bad, and to be honest even when the result was 1-0, I saw the team conceding a stupid goal and match ending in a 1-1.

This is going to be a tough season to watch.

Of course you did because you're nothing more than a whiny little tit. You show up to talk shit and then when we win convincingly you vanish.

It'll only be a tough season for fairweather fan boys like yourself.

[bababoom 4,478]

How was it a shit perfomance? Jesus christ.

Bar the first 10 minutes, in the first half 11v11 we were excellent, completely dominated Arsenal and should have had a pen. Hazard, Cesc, Pedro, Oscar and Costa all linked up well and we were playing some lovely stuff. When Arsenal went down to 10 and later on 9. understandably we stepped off the gas, the pressing was eased and we just kept the ball and made Arsenal work. Special mention to Cesc and Oscar, is it a coincidence once Oscar returns and puts in a defensive shift (noticeable covering Cesc when he went forward) that Fabregas returns to his best? i'm not sure but when on form Fabregas is majestic. Zouma with another brilliant perfomance, it's scary to think he's only 20, i still hope we go in for Stones in Jan because that partnership will be mouthwatering. Cahill gets a lot of flak but today he played well, it's great having a more proactive defence, both defenders wasn't afraid to push up and move out of defence with the ball.

I also have to go on about this forum, people on this site are never happy, today when the team news came out certain members were literally calling for Jose' head there and then, it's pathetic, get behind the team ffs.

[bluesman2610 1,417]

Man Cesc must love when Oscar is in the team his non stop pressing forces teams to give up possession in areas where Cesc can get on the ball and make things happen

[Kieran. 6,317]

Man Cesc must love when Oscar is in the team his non stop pressing forces teams to give up possession in areas where Cesc can get on the ball and make things happen

Yep, Fab and Oscar compliment each other quite nicely!

[The Skipper 20,609]

shit performance, great result.

bego - barely tested and when did, he was upto the mark.

iva - good performance. stuck close to sanchez and fouled him on every occasion that he looked to be turning. decent performance but we cant have 2 defensive full backs playing against the likes of whu, wba, stoke, etc etc. and when the winger is running at him, he looks poor.

zouma - brilliant display and that tackle... wow... good goal too.

GC - another brilliant performance except for when he lost the ball and the confusion between him and zouma.

azpi - azpi-esque performance. enough said.

matic - quite good. broke a lot of arsenal's attacks. but too slow in possesion.

cesc - someone told me he was a "world class" passer. he is so shit, i actually cant believe he is one of the first names on the team sheet considering the fact he is never dropped. how could he have not been able to play costa thru on that counter. unfucking believable. plus if its upto him. we should walk the ball into the net or something. absolutely atrocious.

oscar - MOTM for me. defensively brilliant. good in attack though lost the ball a couple of times in dangerous positions. nonetheless, quite a brilliant performance.

hazard - started the match so poorly. but got into the game. that shot was awesome which was saved by cech. all in all, hopefully, he gets to his best.

pedro - decent. though needs to work on his shooting.

costa - awful. absolutely awful. could and should have been red carded. his "link up play" was awesome again. cant count the number of times he lost the ball in brilliant positions. his "fakes" are so slow and ponderous that its almost laughable to look at.

we were lucky today. nothing else. this game does not solve anything. all our problems are still there. and teams will exploit them time and again.

In what sense was Fabregas atrocious? I know you don't like the man but come on, must've been watching a different game.

He created our best chances in the game by far. A few sloppy passes but overall a good performance, more like it.