Chelsea (1) 2 Arsenal (0) 2
Premier League
Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road., London SW6 1HS
Saturday, 21st October 2023. Kick-off time: 5.30pm
(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Martin Ødegaard (c), (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli.
Substitutes: Thomas Partey, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Jakob Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Kai Havertz, Karl Hein
Scorers: Rice (77 mins), Trossard (84 mins)
Yellow Cards: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Eddie Nketiah, Mikel Arteta
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 57%
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistant Referees: Richard West, Matthew Wilkes
Fourth Official: James Linington
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Jarred Gillett; AVAR Darren Cann
Attendance: 39,723
Great to see that both Bukayo Saka and William Saliba have passed fitness checks today for this important game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this afternoon. Obviously it goes without saying that we need a win in West London to keep in the hunt for Premiership glory, and also to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur at the top of the table this evening. Also sad to see the passing of 1966 England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton at the age of 86, which was announced today.
After a short period of silence to reflect on the loss of life in both Israel and Gaza, (which is the reason why both sets of players are wearing black armbands), the home side kicked off proceedings on a rather wet and cold West London late afternoon.
Chelsea started quickly, bringing the game to us, with a long ball forward from Thiago Silva to Raheem Sterling, ending with Conor Gallagher having a shot blocked by our defence before Enzo Fernandez fired the ball erratically over the bar.
After another goal attempt by the home side shortly afterwards, the game started to settle down with both sets of players eager to impose their will on the game. Cole Palmer received a well-deserved yellow card for an appalling tackle on Gabriel Jesus, in which our man could so easily have had an ankle broken.
A little while later, Oleksandr Zinchenko received our first yellow card of the afternoon when he tripped Mykhaiko Mudryk, who made a meal of it, to be fair. VAR were consulted when a cross from the right wing appeared to hit William Saliba on the arm, and subsequently a penalty was given to Chelsea, with Cole Palmer making no mistake from the spot.
The match started to settle down after the first quarter of an hour of frenetic activity from both sides, and we nearly grabbed an equaliser when a clever right-footed flick from Declan Rice into the path of Gabriel Jesus flew just in front of him, in which he so narrrowly missed the opportunity to connect.
Thiago Silva clattered into Gabriel Martinelli with an extremely strong tackle, and despite some good chances for our boys to grab the equaliser, it was an end-to-end game now in the rain.
Bukayo Saka came close with a clever shot when the Chelsea goalie was out of position, but Thiago Silva easily cleared the danger, and at the other end, we nearly shipped another goal when a Cole Palmer shot went inches past David Raya’s left-hand post.
The home side were starting to cause problems with our defence, and there were times when we had trouble keeping them at bay. Although our passing was crisp, we were not threatening the Chelsea goal very much at this stage of the game.
Thiago Silva was quite rightly booked for a blatant body-check on Gabriel Jesus, and unfortunately the resulting free-kick was wasted. Despite an incident-packed first half with two minutes of injury time, we could not grab an equaliser in the first half.
For the second half, Takehiro Tomiyasu has replaced Oleksandr Zinchenko, and as we kicked off, we realised that we had to get a result here, no matter what. However, a few minutes after the restart, Mykhaiko Mudryk scored Chelsea’s second goal when he chipped a ball over the head of David Raya from the left wing; suddenly our task has just become harder now.
We started to put pressure on the home side, both Gabriel Martinelli and Takehiro Tomiyasu getting mighty close to scoring, and we nearly gave a second penalty away when David Raya cleared a ball out that went straight to the feet of Cole Palmer, who was relieved of the ball when our goalie dived at his feet, which was a real heart-in-the-mouth moment!
Gabriel Jesus then had a clash with Chelsea goalie Robert Sanchez, and he appeared to come off worse for wear, as the medical staff came onto the pitch to treat him before he hobbled back into action.
With just over twenty minutes of the game remaining, Gabriel Jesus and Jorginho were replaced by Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith-Rowe in order to try and get some goals out of this match.
About ten minutes after the substitutions, Chelsea ’keeper Robert Sanchez casually passed the ball out from his six-yard box, totally missing his defender and found Declan Rice, who unceremoniously hit the ball straight into the back of the Chelsea net from about twenty-five yards! Game on!
Sensing something special could be going on here, Mikel Arteta threw caution to the wind by sending on Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard to replace Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli to make a difference.
And what a difference was made, when just after the substitutions, Bukayo Saka put in a deep cross from the right wing, Chelsea defender Malo Gusto looked like he simply switched off, and Leandro Trossard nipped in and grabbed the equaliser! Such drama!
We sensed that the game was there for the taking now, as an Eddie Nketiah shot went narrowly wide of the post, the home side’s defence looked all over the shop. Chelsea appeared to get themselves together in order to try to score the winner themselves, but as hard as they tried, it was not going to happen.
Seven minutes injury time was awarded, and despite some very good chances by both clubs, the score remained a draw. As a final note, Mikel Arteta was cautioned after the final whistle after walking to the centre circle to remonstrate with the match officials, which was a ridiculous end to such a match.
The first half was abysmal, and at times we looked at sixes and sevens, and after the second Chelsea goal was scored, things looked rather iffy for us, but to be fair and to give credit where credit is due, Mikel Arteta’s substitutions came at the right time for us, and we clawed our way back and got a point out of this match. Mind you, we had thirteen shots on goal, but only three of them on target, so there is room for improvement there.
On the plus side, we showed immense character and a never-say-die attitude that a lot of other teams in the Premiership lack, and the point we got today here at Stamford Bridge was one that we thoroughly deserved, and there were times when it looked like we could have got the winner, but it was not to be. Anyway, a point is better than nothing, and tonight we are level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premiership table. All to play for, chaps.
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Sevilla at Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán on Tuesday, 24th October at 8.00pm (Champions League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 