Gunners beat Blues in sensational Fashion
Written By: Robert Halter
The form book went out of the window as Arsenal turned the corner after just one point out of a possible twelve on the road, as the Gunners ended the Blues winning streak at home in a London derby classic. In the opening minute the Blues broke forward as Frank Lampard slid a ball through and as Johan Djourou slipped, Ashley Cole squared the ball to Fernando Torres but with a clear sight of the goal, he was unable to find the target. The Gunners squandered a chance to score ten minutes later when Theo Walcott cut inside Cole, and put in a low cross to Gervinho, who skidded a long the floor as he pushed the ball wide. A minute later, Robin Van Persie blasted over from close range after Walcott’s ball over the top, before the Gunners trailed on fourteen minutes, after Juan Mata’s cross turned past Andre Santos and Lampard’s advancing header flew past Wojciech Szczesny to ripple the back of the net. The Blues should have increased their lead on twenty eight minutes when John Obi Mikel combined with Lampard, whose lofted ball opened up the Arsenal defence but Daniel Sturridge was unable to convert when clean through as he miss connected with his strike. This time it was Chelsea’s turn to pay the price when Arsenal levelled on thirty six minutes as Aaron Ramsey’s through ball set up Gervinho, whose square pass left Petr Cech stranded and Van Persie had the easy task of rolling the ball into an empty net. Chelsea had a goal ruled out moments later, when Sturridge moved half a yard offside before turning in Ramires’s pass. But there was no argument for the Blues second just before the half time break as from Lampard’s corner, John Terry bundled the ball into the bottom left corner to restore Chelsea’s advantage. The Gunners created two chances in quick succession at the start of the second half, first Cech’s two footed block prevented the unmarked Van Persie scoring and then from in front of the goal posts, Ramsey fired over. However, the Gunners found a way back into the match on forty eight minutes as Alex Song’s pass split open the Blues defence and with an instinctive finish, Santos drove the ball through Cech’s legs into the heart of the goal. The Blues were back to all square and looking for answers, as Lampard’s free kick tested Szczesny three minutes later, after the Gunners goalkeeper had been booked for a challenge on Cole. The match turned in Arsenal’s favour on fifty five minutes, when Walcott broke through and after an initial fall, he came off the floor to beat Cech at his near post with a fiercely struck effort to put the Gunners ahead for the first time in the game. Arsenal had got to grips with Chelsea and a brave stop by Cech prevented Ramsey from adding to the score on sixty minutes. But the Blues responded and made it three apiece, after Raul Meireles laid the ball off to Mata, and with a beautifully crafted curler, the ball found its way into the bottom left corner past Szczesny’s reach. The game swung again after a fatal slip by Terry handed the game back to Arsenal, as Van Persie rounded Cech to find the net and restore the Gunners lead on eighty four minutes, to punish Florent Malouda’s miss placed back pass. A minute into stoppage time, Van Persie sealed a 5-3 victory for Arsenal with a memorable hat trick after blasting the ball past Cech into the top left side of the goal, after latching on to Mikel Arteta’s ball through. Chelsea’s proud unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge had come to an end as Arsenal recorded their first away win since beating Blackpool, last season.