Arsenal were knocked out of the title race on Saturday as favourites Chelsea ran to a thumping 3-1 victory at the Stamford Bridge to take a 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings.
The Gunners started the game on a positive note, bossing possession in the early stages, but the home team soon took the lead through Marcos Alonso who reacted the fastest after Diego Costa’s header had bounced back off the crossbar. In the process, Hector Bellerin caught an elbow from Alonso to his head and had to be withdrawn. His replacement, Gabriel, had a great chance to level things for his team but could only place his headed effort into the grasp of Courtois as the Gunners headed into the break trailing.
Not long after the restart, Eden Hazard went on a mazy run beating as many as three Gunners on his way to score a beautiful goal to double Chelsea’s advantage. Arsenal rung in the changes, throwing in Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck onto the field as they went about to chase the game, but Arsene Wenger’s former protégé, Cesc Fabregas, put the result beyond doubt after Petr Cech played a pass straight to the Spaniard and the former Arsenal man obliged, sending the ball into an open net. Giroud scored a consolation goal in the stoppage time after Nacho Monreal did well to send a cross in from the left-hand side, but by then, the celebrations at the Stamford Bridge were well underway.
In what was Arsenal’s second loss in the week, following their 2-1 defeat to Watford in the midweek, let’s assess how each player fared:
Petr Cech – 4/10
Beaten all ends up from Costa’s header but was saved by the post, but couldn’t do much to stop Alonso’s rebound. Made a smart save from Pedro’s strike but was beaten comprehensively by Hazard for the second. His misplaced pass led the third goal for his former club.
Hector Bellerin – NA
Went up to challenge Alonso for the header leading to the goal in the 13th minute, but could not rise high enough. Injured his head in the process and was taken off to be replaced by Gabriel.
Shkodran Mustafi – 5/10
Booked for a clumsy challenge on Eden Hazard halfway into the first period. However, did make a few important interceptions. His second loss in Arsenal colours, following another below-par showing.
Laurent Koscielny – 5/10
Was Arsenal’s best defender on the day, yet failed to inspire his teammates. Was beaten comprehensively twice by Hazard in the lead up to the second goal.
Nacho Monreal – 5/10
Offered an outlet on the left-side for Arsenal but failed to deal with Pedro and Moses effectively. Grabbed a late assist, setting up Giroud with a good ball from the left side.
Francis Coquelin – 3/10
Struggled poorly to shield his defence and was overpowered by Hazard on the way to his brilliant goal. Finding it hard to reproduce his form of the last season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 5/10
The Chelsea midfield duo of Matic and Kante got the better of him for throughout the length of the game. Did not lack energy but failed to impose himself on the game.
Theo Walcott – 4/10
Reinstated to the line-up, the Englishman failed to track Alonso for the first goal. Did nothing noteworthy and was rightly replaced in the second period after an ineffective outing.
Mesut Ozil – 4/10
Failed to score in the first half from a decent chance. Poor passes, no desire to track back, the German went missing once again in a big match.
Alex Iwobi – 4/10
Came close in the early stages capitalizing on Courtois’ under hit pass, but that was as good as it got for Iwobi as he failed to exert any sort of influence on the game.
Alexis Sanchez – 4/10
A surprisingly below-par performance from the Chilean. Was largely isolated at the top for most parts of the game. Looked as if he lost faith in his team as the game wore on.
Substitutes
Gabriel – 5/10
Came on within the quarter of an hour, after Bellerin got injured. Should have brought his team level in the first half but headed straight at Courtois. Right-back isn’t clearly the right position for him as Arsenal lacked the threat on the overlap.
Olivier Giroud – 5/10
Replaced Coquelin with 25 minutes left to play, but saw very less of the ball. Did score the consolation goal in the injury time
Danny Welbeck – 5/10
Came on for Theo Walcott with less than 20 minutes left on the clock. Forced a couple of saves from Courtois but did not get in the game enough.
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