Diego Costa’s goal was the difference as Chelsea looked like they were back to their old selves with a 1-0 win at the Emirates against Arsenal.
The first half saw limited chances as Willian and Theo Walcott missed attempts at opposite ends. The game-changing moment was when Per Mertesacker brought down Diego Costa after a quality through-ball from Willian; Mark Clattenburg had no choice than to send the German centre-back off as he appeared to be the last man. Chelsea made the most of their extra man advantage shortly after, Branislav Ivanovic crossed a low ball into the near post with Diego Costa breaking away from three men to divert the ball past Petr Cech. Mathieu Flamini had a good chance to equalise before the break but the Frenchman saw his unorthodox effort sail over the crossbar.
The second half was a similar story to the first with both sides struggled to create real opportunities. The talking point of the second half was a penalty shout with Laurent Koscielny barging into ex-Arsenal man Cesc Fabregas but nothing was given. Not long after and Arsenal were back on the front foot and if it hadn’t of been for Chelsea’s resilient blocking then this match would have had a different outcome with the Gunners really struggling to break down the Blues’ back four. It wasn’t meant to be though for Arsene Wenger’s men leaving Chelsea unbeaten in eight and up to 13th whilst Arsenal failed to capitalise on the chance to reclaim top spot as they sit firmly in 3rd place.
Arsenal
Branislav Ivanovic: (7) Bagged an assist and played like his old self.
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