Arsenal come away with a 3-1 win over Chelsea

By Money Mike

In a must win game for both clubs, Arsenal were the better side from start to finish as they defeat Chelsea 3-1 and pull within 2 points of League Leaders Manchester United while Chelsea, who have not won in 6 straight matches now, find themselves 6 points off the pace. Chelsea have won the last 5 matches against Arsenal since losing to them at home 2-1.

Arsenal had a chance to go up in the early stages of the game when Alex Song's chip found Robin van Persie in the box but the Dutch striker took his eye off the ball at the last second and it bounced away from him. A couple minutes later, Didier Drogba who has scored 13 goals against the Gunners tried his luck from about 20 yards but his shot was inches wide. That was just about the only chance Chelsea had in the first half.

With over 40 minutes gone, Samir Nasri nearly brokethrough as his shot was dipping over the head of Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and into the top-left corner of the goal but Cech did enough to punch it away and prevent Arsenal from going in front. However in the 43rd minute, Arsenal got on the board as Jack Wilshere's ball somehow found Alex Song who dragged a low left-footed shot into the bottom right corner to put Arsenal on top 1-0. Cesc Fabregas was tripped in the Penalty area, but Song was never going to wait for a penalty signal and he scores his 5th goal of the season and the Gunners were ahead at the break.

Within 6 minutes of the second half, Arsenal would increase their lead after Michael Essien's challenge on Robin van Persie pushed the ball to Theo Walcott who drew Petr Cech and slid it to Cesc Fabregas who tapped it into the empty net to give Arsenal a 2 goal lead. 2 minutes later, Chelsea were caught sleeping again as Walcott and Fabregas hooked up for a 3rd goal. Walcott took the ball away from Florent Malouda and fed Fabregas who sent him away to the right and Walcott did the rest as he drove his shot low into the bottom left corner to give Arsenal a 3-0 lead. Chelsea did respond in the 57th minute when Didier Drogba's free kick found the head of Branislav Ivanovic and the defender heads the ball past keeper Lukasz Fabianski and in the back of the net to cut Arsenal's lead to 3-1, but Chelsea's momentum had already been lost and that was to be the final score of the game as Arsenal held ground for the last half hour and the majority of the fans at the Stadium went home happy as Arsenal came away with a huge 3-1 win.

Arsenal have had some rough times during the season, mostly at home, where they suffered a 3-2 defeat against West Brom, they lost 1-0 to Newcastle, and just a month ago, they blew a 2-0 lead at halftime at home against rivals Tottenham Hotspur and lost 3-2. This Arsenal team has gotten better over the last couple of years. The last time the Gunners have won the Premier League title was their unbeaten season in 2003-04.

As for Chelsea, well of course, they have not won in 6 straight matches now. The defending Premier League Champions got off to a great start, scoring 21 goals in their first 5 matches, but lately, they just couldn't even buy a win, they lost at home to Sunderland 3-0, lost 1-0 at Birmingham, drew at Newcastle, drew at home to Everton, drew at Tottenham, and today, lost 3-1 at Arsenal. There are gonna be some questions, not only about Carlo Ancelotti's job, but about the players as well. Who they need to pickup in the January transfer window, who needs to go, that kind of stuff.

One of Arsenal's big matches next month is on January 5th at Home against Manchester City, who are also in the title race. Chelsea, unless they can start picking up some wins, are just about out of the radar at this point.

Scoring summary:

Arsenal - Alex Song (Cesc Fabregas) 43'

Arsenal - Cesc Fabregas (Theo Walcott) 51'

Arsenal - Theo Walcott (Cesc Fabregas) 53'

Chelsea - Branislav Ivanovic (Didier Drogba) 57'

Lineups:

Chelsea - Petr Cech; John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Paulo Ferreira (Jose Bosingwa, 61'); John Obi Mikel (Ramires, 45'), Frank Lampard, Michael Essien; Florent Malouda (Gael Kakuta, 56'), Didier Drogba, Salomom Kalou.

Arsenal - Lukasz Fabianski; Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna; Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Cesc Fabregas (Tomas Rosicky, 88'); Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott (Abou Diaby, 73'), Robin van Persie (Marouane Chamakh, 76').