– Theo Walcott, and Alexis Sanchez were among the goalscorers as Arsenal defeated Chelea
– Arsenal scored thrice without reply against the Blues at the Emirates stadium
– It is the first time that Arsenal have defeated Chelsea in the Premier League in three years
A masterful first half performance by Arsenal saw the Gunners defeat Chelsea 3 – 0 at the Emirates stadium.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring by lobbing Courtious in goal after robbing Gary Cahill of possession close to the half way line.
Two minutes later, Theo Walcott doubled the lead after a quick interchange with Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez.
Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil celebrate Arsenal’s goal against Chelsea
The third was added on the stroke of half-time as Ozil dribbled past N’Golo Kante as he led a counter attack with Alexis Sanchez who he fed.
He Chilean fed him back to volley a magnificent third against the Blues.
Eden Hazard in action against Coquelin
A first league win over the Blues since October 2011 moves Arsene Wenger’s team up to third in the table behind Manchester City and Tottenham, who meet next weekend, while Conte’s side have picked up one point from a possible nine in the past three games.
Below is the LIVE update of the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates stadium…
FT: Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea (Alexis, Walcott, Ozil)
90′ Giroud goes close! The Frenchman breaks through the middle of the Chelsea back line as he tries to latch on to a lovely pass forward, but he’s closed down and put under good pressure by Cahill, which allows Courtois to dart out and cut out the danger at the vital moment
83′ David Luiz breaks up an Arsenal attack and plays a magnificent left-footed pass to put Batshuayi through on goal. He runs into the box before drilling it low towards goal; Cech spreads himself to deflect it for a corner which is eventually cleared
80′ Azpilicueta’s long-range shot is comfortably saved by Cech though it looked like the ball was going out already
73′ In truth, the Chelsea subs are not expected to make a difference given the quality of Chelsea’s play today
71′ SUB: Kieran Gibbs on, Alex Iwobi off
Willian and Hazard off, Pedro and Michy Batshuayi on
69′ Courtois makes an excellent save with his right foot to deny Walcott, who beat Alonso after receiving Iwobi’s nice pass
63′ A clearance by Cahill hits Walcott and the defender has to do just enough to clear the ball for a throw in… this is a truly awful performance by Chelsea
61′ Costa can’t get enough purchase on a header from Azpilicueta’s cross and it drifts harmlessly across the box. Chelsea haven’t had a shot on target
58′ An incisive angled through pass from Ozil is too fast for Walcott to control and it runs through to Courtois
57′ Chance for Sanchez! Walcott is left in far too much space over on the right wing, allowing him to easily penetrate the Chelsea penalty area. He darts into the box before chipping a lovely cross over to back post, but it ends up sailing just a yard or so over the head of Sanchez
55′ SUB: Fabregas off, Marcos Alonso on
52′ Costa is found on the left wing and sends a low cross towards Willian but its poorly hit and is easily cut out by Xhaka on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area
50′ Chelsea have looked better with the ball in this second half but still looking confused when its time to make the final pass
49′ Chelsea move the ball around nicely before Matic tries to slip a through-ball into the path of Azpilicueta, but the Serbian’s attempted pass forward is poor and is easily cut out before it can find the full-back, who had taken up a good position
48′ The Gunners passing around with a lot of swagger
46′ Second half starts
HT: Arsenal 3 – 0 Chelsea
After three and a half years without a league goal against Chelsea, Arsenal scored three in a half
Sanchez, Walcott and Ozil the goal scorers
45′ SHOT!!! Fabregas’s free-kick from the left is punched meekly by Cech, and Hazard volleys into the side-netting from a tight angle
43′ Blocked!!! Matic feeds Willian through the middle but the Brazilian is quickly closed down as he tries to pass to Diego Costa
41′ Antonio Conte is actually looking calm on the touchline for some unknown reason
40′ GOOOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!! As Chelsea were passing around, Ozil picked up a loose pass and dribbles past Kante. He feeds Sanchez who feeds him back with the German volleying past Courtious
38′ Chelsea now passing the ball around brilliantly…Arsenal actually looking good defensively
35′ Willian gets down the right flank well and sends a great cross into the heart of the penalty area, but Cech reads it well and takes it away from the head of Matic, who had made a good run into the penalty area
33′ SUB: Xhaka replaces Coquelin who is taken off after blocking a shot by N’Golo Kante
28′ YELLOW CARD!!! Branislav Ivanovic goes in the book for a kick on Alex Iwobi in the d***
23′ Great play by Sanchez sets up Bellerin just outside of the Chelsea box, but Cahill dives in front of the Spaniard’s shot to send it out for a corner which is eventually cleared to Hazard who tries to counter but is quickly closed down
21′ Chelsea’s first chance. Hazard combines neatly with Costa before releasing Willian on the right of the box. He has time to take a touch before driving a crisp low shot just wide of the far post
18′ Chelsea looking totally confused as Arsenal dominate the possession…this is bad for Antonio Conte who has seen his side take one point from a possible six in the last two games
14′ ANOTHER GOOOAAAALLLL!!!! Its Theo Walcott with the second for Arsene Wenger’s side
Iwobi played a one-two with Ozil 20 yards from goal and then played an angled through pass to Bellerin, who ran off Hazard and into the box. He fizzed it first time across the area to give Walcott a simple finish from eight yards
12′ GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! Arsenal take the lead via Alexis Sanchez who capitalizes on a mistake by Gary Cahill
The defender wasted too much time with the ball just inside his own half before shaping to pass it back to Courtois, but Sanchez robbed him and ran clear before chipping gently and sweetly over Courtois
9′ Walcott zooms i to the area, where Cahill makes a good sliding tackle. Sanchez a shot that is defected behind for a corner. Nothing comes of it but this has been a fine start from Arsenal.
8′ Wenger would be looking to get one over Chelsea in this game…in his 500th game, he lost 5 – 0 to Chelsea and on his 1000th game he lost 6 – 0…now its his 20th year in charge…what will change today?
7′ The resulting freekick is cleared and the rebounded cross is messed up…Chelsea miss a chance to score
B0th teams were both eight points behind City going into the game
6′ Chelsea quickly break away on a swift counter-attack down the right flank. Costa breaks forward on a marauding run as he battles with Koscielny, and he eventually forces the defender into bringing him down just outside of the Arsenal penalty area.
5′ SHOT!!! An early attempt by Santi Carzola forces Courtious into a good save
3′ Its still early in the match and neither team has truly stamped its authority on this match witch the ball going back and forth
1′ Kick off!!!
Arsenal XI vs. Chelsea: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Cazorla, Coquelin; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez
Chelsea XI vs. Arsenal: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta; Kante, Matic, Fabregas; Willian, Hazard, Costa
Below is the preview of the Premier League clash between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates stadium…
– Fourth place Arsenal fifth place Chelsea to the Emirates in a Premier League tie
– Arsene Wenger earlier this week celebrates 20 years of being Arsenal boss
– The Gunners have not won their last nine Premier League matches against Chelsea
Expect fireworks when Arsenal welcome Chelsea to the Emirates with Diego Costa probably looking to cause havoc again.
John Terry misses out for the 5.30pm kick off while Arsenal will have to do without Danny Welbeck, Per Mertesacker and Aaron Ramsey.
Arsenal defeated Nottingham Forest 5 – 0 while Chelsea stage a comeback from two goals down to defeat Leicester City 4 – 2 at the King Power stadium.
Granit Xhaka celebrates his strike in the League Cup with teammates
Wenger has gone nine games without a win against the Blues in the Premier League and the Frenchman would be looking to show up Antonio Conte.
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In the week Arsene Wenger celebrates 20 years since being named as Arsenal’s manager, and it is somewhat ironic that one of his greatest players, Cesc Fabregas might not start for Chelsea.
Arsenal’s Gabriel in war of words with Chelsea’s Diego Costa
Arsenal have also failed to score in their last six league matches against Chelsea but victory here would give them a fourth successive league win for the first time since last October.
Chelsea haven’t lost any of their last five league visits to the Emirates (W2 D3) since a 3-1 defeat in December 2010. They’ve conceded just one goal in that run.
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