Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (Gabriel 63’)
One nil to the Arsenal, once an expression of minimalist accretion under George Graham, it has become a meld of rigour and beauty commensurate with the epoch.
We are in the age of Pep after all and Arsenal are a team forged in his image, by an exemplar of the Guardiola school, Mikel Arteta.
When Manchester City won the title in 2018 with five games to spare, racking up record goals and points totals, it was with a narrow win here at Stamford Bridge in October that they displayed their capacity to fight as well as delight. A single goal from Kevin De Bruyne put Chelsea back in their box and sent a message to the rest of the Premier League.
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A bright start is one thing, knocking over big dogs when the clocks have gone back requires an added dimension.
Thus was Sunday’s assignment as much a test of mentality and belief. To keep pace with City Arsenal must first believe they are good enough. That meant putting on a show of some swagger, parading about Stamford Bridge with plumage spread wide.
This they did with a punchy win that restored them to the top of the league. Arsenal are really, really good, perhaps a top class right-back from being special. Ben White is a safe choice but ultimately does not offer enough offensively. He is not sufficiently quick on the overlap and lacks instinct in the final third. Arsenal’s first two shots at goal were his, the first skied over the bar, the second pulled wide of a post. But heh, even City have to compromise.
The shape of the team is solid, particularly the defensive triangle of Gabriel, William Saliba and Thomas Partey. Everything flows from this iron core.
Partey is a piece of work, those long, spidery legs wrapping themselves around the ball with adhesive certainty. His rhythm is infectious, the tackles impeccably timed, the passes invariably forward. Just as Patrick Vieira used to set the tempo under Arsene Wenger, so Partey elicits from those around him the marginal gains that make a difference. Partey’s midfield aggressor Granit Xhaka is arguably his greatest beneficiary.
Had Gabriel Jesus a reliable radar he might have ended a barren run that has stretched to nine games. Gabriel Martinelli’s whipped-cross teed him up beautifully in the first half. The dive was committed but the header went wide. In his desperation to score Jesus is snatching at opportunities, his movements lacking composure.
With ten minutes to go Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard combined beautifully in midfield, exchanging nimble passes, to unleash Jesus at a retreating Chelsea defence. He snaked his way through the gaps and saw the pitch open before him. Saka’s burst down the right made his decision for him. The pass should have been on Saka’s toe, but in his eagerness it was overhit. Another chance crushed.
With the lead slender, Arsenal were forced to play out a tense finale. Chelsea tried to take the initiative but in this early phase of Graham Potter’s leadership they come apart under pressure. The World Cup cannot come quickly enough for Potter, not a sentiment widely shared. Devoid of first choice wing backs and his principal midfield organiser Chelsea are a hotchpotch of a unit.
The loss of Reece James, Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante has robbed Chelsea of experience as well substance. And none of their big summer buys have improved the team. Kalidou Koulibaly can’t get in it, Marc Cucurella seems to lack confidence and in attack Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Raheem Sterling are strangers to each other.
This places too big a burden on Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, who simply hasn’t adapted to the pace and aggression of the Premier League. The game looks too fast and physical for Cucurella. His two big involvements of the first half typified his failings, each time making nothing of the passes from Sterling that freed him to attack space in the box.
Only Ruben Loftus-Cheek appears to be profiting from Chelsea’s disruption. So often asked to prove himself in heightened company, Loftus-Cheek finds himself elevated almost by default, needing only to be neat and tidy to stand out in the blue crowd.
“Big win for us,” said Arteta afterwards. “We are a really young team but showed our maturity today.
“That is easy to say but hard to do. It is fantastic to see the team taking another step. We prepared to come here and win but to do it is a different story.”
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