Arsenal are seemingly out of the race for the premiership with this defeat while Chelsea still have slim hopes of winning the league after this magnificent comeback inspired by Didier Drogba.
Arsenal went in front through another unlikely source when Bacary Sagna put them in front from a near post header. They had chances before then with Kolo Toure and Robin Van Persie.
Chelsea then came back with 2 goals from Didier Drogba, the 1st of which was offside but it does not matter as they deserved to win this game as they packed the harder punch with Arsenal content to just pass the ball for the heck of it instead of doing something meaningful with it.
Avram Grant has taken a lot of stick in the past and even in this game some fans were jeering him for his substitutions singing “You don’t know what you are doing” but he had the last laugh in the end. Chelsea always looked the more dangerous of the 2 sides as they have far more match winners with the likes of Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Drogba and Joe Cole whilst Arsenal can count on Van Persie, William Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor as goal-scorers.
Although Arsenal had a lot of the ball they just look like a flyweight boxer against a heavyweight boxer looking to hit and run but not hurting the opposition. They just pass the ball without purpose sometimes and in Adebayor they have a striker in very poor form and when he is on poor form he is very poor indeed.
They also do not defend well at all as if you go at them; you are likely to score because they are not solid enough at the back and try to pass their way out of trouble, which is not always a good idea. They need more physical players as well as a player that can do something different as a lot of them are too similar and nice to watch
Chelsea played very well today and would be confident going to the last games of the season that they could mount a serious challenge but I don’t think so as they are too far behind Manchester United. They got the breaks today with Sagna getting injured at the wrong time and the linesman missing Drogba being offside for the equalizer.
Ratings
Chelsea
Carlo Cudicini 6 - He made some good saves but they were saves he would be expected to make but he was not unduly troubled by a blunt Arsenal attack.
Michael Essien 5.5 - He is not the Essien of old as he has a bit of his commanding self and did not have the best of games at right back.
Ashley Cole 6.5 - He was a figure of controversy against Spurs but he was very good today against his old club as not a lot went past him and he did go forward with good effect. He did miss 1 good chance from a Joe Cole cross.
Ricardo Carvalho 6.5 - He would always give you 100% and his reading of the game was immaculate as usual.
John Terry 6.5 - He was commanding at the back and was not troubled that much. He was also a menace at the other end.
Michael Ballack 6 - He was not at his very best but his passes are almost always effective and he was a source of bother in the Arsenal penalty box
Frank Lampard 5 - He did not contribute that much to the game and was caught napping when Sagna put Arsenal ahead.
Claude Makele 6 - He did what he does best and that is be at the right place at the right time in front of the defence.
Salomon Kalou 6 - He did provide pace and problems for Arsenal if not quality.
Didier Drogba 7 - He was always going to be the danger man for Arsenal, the kind of player they wished they had instead of Adebayor and he punished them yet again with his 2 goals in the 2nd half and he could have scored in the 1st half but his touch let him down.
Joe Cole 6 - He was not as effective as he has been in recent games but he did have his moments
Substitutes
Juliano Belletti 6 - He added pep to Chelsea’s attack when he came on as he is a genuine right full back.
Nicholas Anelka 5.5 - he should have done better with a chance he was presented with but his header made the winning goal for Drogba.
John Mikel Obi He came on too late to be rated.
Avram Grant 7 - He got his substitutions spot on and deserves praise for the way his team played.
Arsenal
Emanuel Almunia 6 - He made some decent saves and maybe should have done better with Drogba’s winner.
Bacary Sagna 6 - He scored the goal to give his side the lead but before them his play was poor as he continually went for the wrong ball or bad cross when in good positions.
Gael Clichy 6 - He played a good game as he managed to keep Joe Cole quiet but he has this tendency to put his side in trouble with a needless pass to the centre of his goal.
Kolo Toure 5.5 - He did not have the best of games as Kalou and Drogba gave him a torrid time. He has not looked the same player since he went to the African cup of nations.
William Gallas 6 - He tried his best to thwart Drogba but he found out it’s a thankless task but he did not make any glaring mistakes.
Emmanuel Eboue 6 - He plays as a right winger but he does very little damage going forward and though he did not have a bad game he was not effective either.
Manuel Flamini 6 - He was tigerish in the tackle and did not let his side down on the day.
Cesc Fabregas 5 - He does not take the game by the scruff of the neck as he seems content with pretty passes that are not really going anywhere. He could not go past players and most of his good play was in the defensive third of the pitch. He seems to be always looking for Adebayor when it may be better to pass the ball to someone else.
Aliaksandr Hleb 5 - He is another 1 that passes the ball to the death instead of taking a chance to shoot. He was ineffective today as he did not have a positive effect on his side at all.
Emmanuel Adebayor 5 - He was poor as he has been for a month and some would say since he cut his hair. His 1st touch is usually poor and he did not have any meaningful attempt at goal throughout the game.
Robin Van Persie 5 - He was also poor on the day as he had a chance to mount a good counter attack but his 1st touch was unusually poor and he did not trouble Chelsea all that much.
Substitutes
Abou Diaby 5 - He did not add much to the game.
Theo Walcott 5 - He was largely ignored when he ran into good positions and the fact that he is on good form it’s a mystery that Arsene Wenger keeps leaving him on the bench.
Nicklas Bendtner No rating
Arsene Wenger 5 - He should have brought on or started with Theo Walcott instead of Eboue but he chose not to and Diaby was just a wasted substitution as he adds nothing to Arsenal.
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