A lone goal by Diego Costa on 23rd minute was all Chelsea needed to steal three points from London rival, Arsenal in Sunday’s much anticipated match.
The goal came five minutes after Arsenal defender,Per Mertesacker got a red card for fouling Costa, who was then breaking away towards goal after he collected a long pass.
Arsenal were clearly unsettled, even after striker Olivier Giroud was substituted by Wenger and Brazilian Gabriel Paulista was introduced.
Paulista and Laurent Koscielny became mere onlookers when Costa pounced on a cross from the right from Ivanovic in front of the goal post. The man who has earned a reputation of breaking Arsene Wenger’s heart, wasted no time for the clinical finish.
It became the only goal and the winner of the match, bringing back memories of Arsenal’s earlier League loss to Jose Mourinho coached Chelsea. A red card was also what spoilt the game.
Despite Arsenal’s substitutions: Joel Campbell being replaced by Alexis Sanchez in the second half and out-of-sort acting captain, Theo Walcott going out for Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, the 23rd minute goal had done the great damage for Arsenal.
“It’s a big three points and gets us a little bit up the league. We have drawn too many games and we had to get three points. I’m delighted with how we played, and obviously with the win. If we can put a run together, we can still get into the top four. Everyone is still beating everyone. We are not writing anything off, and we are still in the Champions League as well,” said Chelsea captain John Terry.
Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini, however lamented the club’s loss once again to Chelsea.”I am disappointed and frustrated. We have high ambitions, we are fighting for the title and to lose a game like that is frustrating. We gave everything against the 11 men. I do not want to comment on the red card. We can think positively, but for a club like us the win is the only thing that matters. There is a long way still top go and we still have to look forward. It is one game.”
The victory lifted Chelsea to 13th on the table, while Arsenal remain third, sparking the question whether they are capable of fighting for the title, 15 matches to go.