Three Things We Learned From Chelsea vs Arsenal: No Love Lost Between Wenger And Mourinho

Goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa were enough for Chelsea to see off Arsenal and remain as the only unbeaten side in the Premier League. Both sides were lucky to have their central defenders still on the pitch after they both committed offences which could have resulted in them seeing red. But Chelsea emerged victorious for the sixth time in the League this season and go into the international break, five points clear of their nearest title contenders, Manchester City who are second with 14 points.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

No love lost between Wenger and Mourinho

Before the game, when both managers were speaking about the crucial clash at Stamford Bridge, you wouldn’t have been mistaken to have thought that the rivalry between the two of them had died down. To say that the pair have had a strained relationship would be an understatement as the two of them have never really seen eye-to-eye ever since Mourinho came to England in 2004. But things looked as though they were cooling down.

But in the first half, things got heated again when Arsène Wenger seemed to push Mourinho back after being infuriated by a tackle on Alexis Sanchez. Although it was the referee that the Frenchman was furious at, he decided to take it out on the man who had branded him “a specialist in failure”. After the game, the Arsenal manager refused to apologise for his actions and said he had nothing “to regret”. At the end of the day, irrespective of his actions, the fact that he is yet to beat Mourinho in 12 games is something that will linger on long in the Frenchman’s memory even if the first-half spat is forgotten.

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Hazard turns on the style against the Gunners

Going into the game against the Gunners, Chelsea were not only top of the table, but also had the League’s leading goal scorer in Diego Costa and creator in Fabregas. But if there was one player who was yet to get going this season, it was Eden Hazard. The Belgian hasn’t had a great past few months as started the season, a shadow of the player who won the League’s Best Young Player award.

Against Arsenal, Hazard showed that his bad form was just a blip and displayed his true class. The Belgian bamboozled the Gunners defence, who were frightened to even make a tackle after they conceded a first-half penalty which Hazard duly converted. It wasn’t just the goal but his overall performance that would have pleased Mourinho, who, truth be told, has been sticking up for Hazard through his rough patch. With the Belgian now in full flight, the League’s most potent attack just got better.

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Another big game, another defeat for the Gunners

Following a 4-1 win over Galatasaray in the Champions League in mid week, the Gunners came into this game, high on confidence and hoping to end Chelsea’s unbeaten record in the League so far. By the end of the game, although the Gunners gave a much better account of themselves than they did the last time they were, it was still not enough as the Blues emerged victorious yet again.

Although the visitors were far more compact this time around and tried to close down the opposition a lot more effectively, they still couldn’t live with the pace on the wings and the power through the middle. The Gunners need to a find a way to win or at least score a few points in the games against other title contenders, because that will make all the difference between fighting for the League and fighting for fourth place.