Jose Mourinho’s departure from Chelsea seemed to have done Arsenal a world of good. The North Londoners have not tasted success against their bitter city rivals since February, 2004 until this Sunday. During this barren run it was the charismatic Mourinho who dictated the mentality of Arsene Wenger’s boys. But Avram Grant’s approach to this match was far too low key with the Israeli admitting to be an admirer of Arsenal’s free-flowing football which for sure Jose Mourinho would not have done in the pre-match conference against one of his title rivals.
Although the match lived up to its fiesty reputation, Chelsea lost the encounter in some key areas. Influential striker Didier Drogba’s absence and talismanic club skipper John Terry’s early injury-related withdrawal from the match gave the Gunners an unwanted boost. Just when it looked that the Blues would go into the break all square and with a psychological advantage, a rare lack of concentration on the part of the Premiership’s best goalkeeper Petr Cech handed old Chelsea boy William Gallas a fortuitous headed strike which in the end turned out to be the all important match winner. John Terry’s unfortunate substitution also led Gallas to have a free header towards the goal who would surely have been marked closely by the England captain had he been fit but replacement Tal Ben Haim was not up to the mark.
It was not a dream homecoming for Ashley Cole, who spent around eight years at Arsenal before moving over to Stamford Bridge under acrimonius circumstances last summer. The Chelsea defender was heckled by the Arsenal fans throughout the match and certainly would want to forget this match in a hurry. The win takes Arsenal back to the top of the Premiership table ahead of Manchester United who briefly went top after beating fierce North-west rivals Liverpool in an earlier match at Anfield on Grand Slam Sunday courtesy of a lone Carlos Tevez goal just before half-time.
The vital wins for both Arsenal and Manchester United against their closest title rivals would give the clubs enough confidence for eventual league success going into the hotly busy Christmas period during which Premiership clubs get to play a host of matches in quick succession. But given the trend of the season so far with big teams dropping points against unlikely opponents, this title-race has more twists and turns than ever before and the team which copes better with the schedule congestion is more than likely to lift the title come May.
Source Link: BBC News
Image Link: Eurosport
