3 Things We Learned From Chelsea vs Arsenal – The Gunners Are Chokers, Jose Is Still Special

Chelsea sent out a message to the rest of the title challengers about their capabilities as they thrashed a hapless Arsenal side 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. Here are three things we learned from this game.

1. Arsenal are big-game chokers

Once again, Arsenal failed to turn up in a big game. They were slow to start against Liverpool and consequently they were out of the game inside the opening twenty minutes when Liverpool raced to a 4-0 lead. It was no different today as Arsenal were beaten to the punch by Chelsea who were simply electric from the start. By the time Arsenal knew what was going on, the match was already won by Chelsea.

Chelsea were two goals up inside the first seven minutes, and when referee mistakenly showed Kieran Gibbs a red card instead of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for a deliberate handball in the penalty box, Arsenal were not only down to ten men, but also out of the game inside fifteen minutes. From there on there was no way back for the Gunners as the score line went from bad to worse.

2. Mourinho is still the “Special One”

Mourinho had done it against Manchester City, he did it again against Arsenal. He outfoxed Arsene Wenger in terms of the tactics employed as he wrestled control of the game from Arsenal in midfield right from the start. Just as he had done against City, Mourinho used David Luiz and Nemanja Matic as a double pivot and that allowed them to deny the Arsenal midfielders space and time on the ball.

This resulted in Arsenal players frequently losing the ball and Chelsea capitalized on it with the early goals. Using Schurrle on the right against what was Arsenal’s weak link exploited it perfectly and resulted in the German getting on the score sheet early in the game. They also looked to exploit the lack of pace in the middle of the park with Arteta, and that wrestled the game away from Arsenal quite early in the encounter. Once Arsenal were down to ten, it was just controlling the game and seeing out the result.

3. The title race is 3-way now

This game was supposed to be one of the four key fixtures that would determine the fate of the title race. While the margin of the Chelsea win was a surprise – not even the most ardent Chelsea fans would have expected a 6-0 win in the London derby – the result perhaps was not quite so. What the Chelsea win did was knock Arsenal out of the title race.

Even though Arsenal have a game in hand over Chelsea, they are now seven points behind the league leaders and with only eight games to go, and a game against Manchester City still to come, the league now looks to be beyond the Gunners. With Liverpool and Manchester City both winning, the title race is basically a three-way dash to the finish now.