Chelsea 2 Arsenal 2
Mauricio Pochettino welcomed Mikel Arteta’s side to Stamford Bridge, looking to prevent a third consecutive home defeat and get their season back on track with a London derby win. These are the sorts of games that Arteta needs to start winning if they are going to be real title contenders this season.
Chelsea started the better, first to the ball in all areas of the pitch. When Sterling clipped a ball into the box, Mudryk met it with his head, only to see it strike the arm of Saliba. The only incredible thing is that the referee did not give a penalty straight away and relied upon the crutch of the VAR studio.
As always, rather than simply telling him that he had got the decision wrong, they sent the official to the monitor to correct his own error. It is no wonder football has been turned into a game of 100 minutes by the video technology.
After the squabbling between Sterling and Palmer as to who would take it, the ex-Man City academy graduate stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and put the hosts one-nil up. Weirdly, it was Enzo Fernandez who had the casting vote on who was to take the penalty, this is definitely a ship with no captain.
Credit: @ChelseaFC
Gallagher then went on a mazy run and fed it to Palmer who shot from outside the box, just missing the far post. Arsenal were looking like a rabbit in a car’s headlights and Chelsea really had the chance to put the knife into their opponents.
Early in the second half, Mudryk came down the left wing, looking up to see who was in the box. As he looked to loft a ball into the box, his effort went straight over David Raya and into the back of the net. While the player will claim he meant it, all it really showed is the weaknesses of The Gunners’ new keeper.
Favoured ahead of Ramsdale by Arteta, Raya proved that not only does he look like Drake, he is about as good of a goalkeeper as him as well. The Arsenal manager said he wanted two top keepers to compete this season, not sure when they are arriving at the club.
Arsenal tried to find a way back into a game that they had not turned up for. Rice played it to Martinelli out wide and he cut in onto his right foot and tried to bend one in the far post, deflecting wide for a corner.
Raya then underpinned why he used to be called the ‘Spanish David James’ as he had the ball at his feet and passed it straight to Mudryk, who took the ball around him but was unable to finish as the keeper managed to recover.
Odegaard then whipped a free kick into the box and Sanchez came for the cross and got nowhere near it, wiping out two players in the process. As the ball was headed over by Tomiyasu, Arsenal were surrounding the referee demanding a penalty.
Credit: @Arsenal
Both sides gave away possession all game, this time it was Sanchez showing how it seems Spanish keepers are just dropouts from the country’s clown academies as he hit it straight to Declan Rice. The midfielder hit it first time and found the bottom corner to get Arteta’s side back into the game.
At this point, Chelsea’s defence looked more nervous than a female intern heading into Russell Brand’s dressing room as the visitors pushed for an equaliser. Saka crossed to the back post and Trossard ghosted in and side footed it past Sanchez, who did not even make an attempt at it.
There was no celebration from Mikel Arteta, almost like he had just sobered up from a cocktail of drugs and realised just how much money he had spent on Kai Havertz. Either way, his side were level and now pushing for a winner.
The points were shared but for the travelling Arsenal fans, it will seem like a win as they were dead and buried at two-nil down. One thing to take from this game is that based on their goalkeepers, lucrative offers are imminent from Comedy Central for broadcasting rights to their games.
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