As he made
his way, slowly, to the touchline the derision filled the night air.
Then the response from blue corner. 'Diego Costa – he’s done it again'.
And he had. Drawn the red card, got the goal, got right up Arsenal’s
hooter. It was just like old times.
The
result was familiar, too. A Chelsea win. These teams have met 27 times
competitively in 12 seasons and this was Chelsea’s 16th win, with seven
draws. The last 12 goals, in league fixtures, have belonged to Chelsea
too. Do Arsenal have the nerve to win the title this season? They
certainly don’t have the steel to beat Chelsea.
Not
many teams will drop six points to them this season, but Arsenal have.
And while they curse bad luck and Costa’s dark side for the defeat at
Stamford Bridge, the buck stops with the home team here.
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Chelsea striker Diego Costa celebrates his 23rd-minute goal against Arsenal after poking a Branislav Ivanovic cross into the net
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Costa leaps in the air in celebration
of his first-half goal while Willian (far left) and John Obi Mikel (in
background) rush to congratulate him
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The Spain international beat
substitute Gabriel to the ball to score past former team-mate Petr Cech
and put his side in an early lead
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Mark Clattenburg shows Per Mertesacker the red card after the Germany international hauled down Costa as he ran through on goal
MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE BY OLIVER TODD AT THE EMIRATES
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1):
Cech 6, Bellerin 6, Koscielny 4.5, Mertesacker 2, Monreal 4, Flamini 4,
Ramsey 5, Campbell 5 (Sanchez 57mins, 6), Ozil 5, Walcott 5.5
(Oxlade-Chamberlain 75, 5), Giroud 4.5 (Gabriel 22, 5.5)
Subs not used:Ospina, Gibbs, Chambers, Elneny
Sent off: Mertesacker 18
Booked: Flamini
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1):
Courtois 5.5; Ivanovic 5.5, Zouma 6.5, Terry 6.5, Azpilicueta 5.5;
Mikel 6, Matic 6; Willian 7, Fabregas 8.5, Oscar 6.5 (Hazard 77, 5.5);
Costa 8 (Remy 68, 5.5)
Subs not used: Begovic, Cahill, Baba, Loftus-Cheek, Traore
Goal: Costa 23
Booked: Oscar, Matic, Mikel
Referee: Mark Clattenburg 5.5
Attendance: 60,072
Match ratings by Oliver Todd
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Per
Mertesacker made a dreadful decision leading to his dismissal and
Arsenal barely managed a shot at goal. Cesc Fabregas ran the game in
midfield, aided as ever by the tireless, Willian and was unfortunate not
to win a penalty when bodychecked by Laurent Koscielny after a
beautiful run in the second half. That Nemanja Matic gave away a foul,
and was booked, for an identical challenge on Alexis Sanchez in midfield
soon after shows the inconsistency.
True,
Arsenal were down to 10 for 71 minutes of the match but, even
handicapped, they knew what they had to do after half-time and
disappointed. Their best chances were scrappy, scrambles with
opportunity coming by fortuitous deflection rather than invention.
Leicester will have looked at this with quiet satisfaction. Everyone
thought they would be the ones that blinked first.
Petr
Cech is the best goalkeeper around these parts since David Seaman. So,
knowing that, why didn’t Per Mertesacker trust him to deal with Diego
Costa, even one on one?
When
a quite lovely pass put Costa through after 19 minutes, Mertesacker’s
lack of pace left him floundering. At that point, he had a choice.
Lunge, risk missing his tackle, and play the inevitable game of red card
roulette, or chase Costa, applying as much pressure as possible and
hope that Cech can do the rest.
The worst
that could happen would be that Arsenal went a goal down, against a team
that started the day in 14th place, and with 70 minutes to retrieve the
game. Instead, Mertesacker pressed the doomsday button.
As
usual, when things happen in a rush, there was the debate about whether
Costa was taken out, clipped or merely fell over taking evasive action.
It really doesn’t matter. Mertesacker’s tackle was wild and did not
allow Costa to continue his run on goal. Of course, the same could be
said of a challenge made by Nicolas Otamendi on Michail Antonio during
Manchester City’s match with West Ham on Saturday, and that was only
judged to be a yellow card.
This
time, Clattenburg did the right thing. Mertesacker was dismissed and
the angry reaction of the locals probably had more to do with the
involvement of bogeyman Costa than any true sense of injustice. Had it
been the other way around, they would have been howling for a straight
red.
It
was the seventh time in the Premier League that an Arsenal player had
been sent off against Chelsea — not including Gabriel’s red at Stamford
Bridge earlier in the season, later rescinded. They have a way of
getting under red skins and, momentarily, Arsenal lost their way. Arsene
Wenger’s reaction to the calamity — removing Olivier Giroud for a
centre half, Gabriel, was not well received, and Gabriel’s first
involvement was, frankly, calamitous.
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Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech
(centre left) shakes hands with former team-mate Mikel (centre) before
kick-off at the Emirates
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Chelsea ace Cesc Fabregas, who played for the Gunners for eight years, was booed during the Premier League match in north London
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Theo Walcott was allowed to wear the
captain's armband during the Premier League fixture as he celebrated his
10th year at Arsenal
He
had been on the pitch barely a minute when Branislav Ivanovic whipped
in a cross from the right, which Costa met at the near post, getting
across Gabriel, and forcing the ball into the net. He is back to his
best, no doubt of that, recording more goals and assists under Guus
Hiddink than he did in 16 league games with Jose Mourinho this season.
Make of that what you will.
Arsenal
rallied, in terms of possession if not chances, but Chelsea could have
moved further ahead shortly before half-time. Another beautiful ball
from Willian — Chelsea’s player of all the season, not just a fraction
of it — found Costa but Cech saved well at the near post. From Willian’s
corner, Ivanovic’s powerful header was cleared off the line by Nacho
Monreal.
Arsenal
had one good chance before being numerically disadvantaged, and one
after. In the second minute, a cross by Theo Walcott — honorary captain
on the day after 10 years at the club — deserved better than a skewed
finish from Joel Campbell.
Then,
with the last attack of the half, a neat chip from Aaron Ramsey was met
by Mathieu Flamini, beating the offside trap but not his own nerves
before goal, and choosing an ambitious volley which troubled only those
departing early for a half-time cup of tea.
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The fiery Costa exchanges words with Arsenal centre back Laurent Koscielny during the opening few minutes at the Emirates
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Chelsea's John Terry (left) and fellow
defender Branislav Ivanovic (right) keep a close eye on the ball as
Mathieu Flamini (centre) slips
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Mertesacker was shown a straight red card by Clattenburg after he swiped the legs of Costa early on at the Emirates Stadium
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The former Werder Bremen defender
could not have any real complaints after being dismissed in the 18th
minute of the league clash
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The Arsenal captain looks embarrassed
as he makes his way off of the pitch while Arsene Wenger fumes at fourth
official Jonathan Moss
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Wenger vented his frustration at Moss
despite Arsenal's players having no real protests against the decision
to send off Mertesacker
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Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud
(centre) made way for substitute Gabriel following Mertesacker's early
red card on Sunday afternoon
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Costa consults fellow striker Giroud as the Frenchman makes his way off of the field following Wenger's decision to replace him
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After getting back on his feet, Costa
was in the thick of the action once again by scoring five minutes after
Mertesacker's dismissal
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Gabriel slid in an attempt to stop
Costa from scoring but his efforts proved to be in vain as the former
Atletico Madrid man poked home
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Arsenal central midfielder Flamini
shows his frustration after missing a golden opportunity to level the
scoreline shortly before the interval
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Flamini blazed the ball over the
crossbar from close range, his effort proved to be the last kick of the
first half at the Emirates Stadium
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Alexis Sanchez replaced Arsenal team-mate Joel Campbell in the 57th minute to make his first appearance since November 29
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Costa sits on the turf as he holds his leg while speaking to team-mate Mikel, he was replaced by Loic Remy in the 68th minute
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Mertesacker (centre left) and Giroud (centre right) watched the second half from behind Arsenal's substitutes' bench
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Chelsea winger Eden Hazard came off of
the bench to make his first appearance since his side's 3-0 win over
Crystal Palace on January 3
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Wenger looks frustrated as he watches
his side drop three points in the Premier League title race, leaders
Leicester are three points clear
Cech hugs Thibaut Courtois after the
game, the Czech international left Stamford Bridge due to the Belgian's
emergence at Chelsea
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Chelsea celebrate their 1-0 win over Arsenal after the full-time whistle as the home supporters start to clear the stadium
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Terry also gave former Chelsea
team-mate Cech a hug after the game, the duo played together for 11
years before the latter's move
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