Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal

By: travis | December 1st, 2008

What a lovely, lovely result. Forget that it came with a little luck. Forget that our central defender turned the ball into his own net. And forget what has happened in the past few weeks, and simply enjoy the events of yesterday. It was a sight that I found hard to believe, from the first goal scored by Van Persie, to his second minutes later, to the very end, when a Chelsea team whimpered their way to defeat rather than through everything forward. What this means is there is hope and belief restored. At least temporarily.

I wish that I could be a more optimistic person – especially when it comes to supporting Arsenal these past few weeks. But I feel like my standards have lowered. I go into games expecting much less than before, so when results like this one come my way, it’s a pleasant surprise. Going into yesterday’s game, I had the same sort of feelings. I didn’t think that there was anyway in hell that the starting XI Arsene threw out on the pitch would be able to come away with a result against Chelsea. Just look at the midfielders: on our side, Fabregas (world class), Nasri (solid), Denilson, and Song (both who are question marks); Chelski had Ballack, Deco, Lampard, and Mikel, all who are great players. As the game progressed, and Djourou obliged to turn a Bosingwa cross into his own not, I let out a slight groan. Thinking about how Chelsea had conceded just four goals all season – something very remarkable – I wondered where the offense was going to come from. After all, this was a side that hadn’t scored a Premier League goal in the past 200 minutes. While they had threatened early on in the second half, it didn’t seem all to likely for the impenetrable Chelsea backline and keeper to be bothered.

Maybe Arsene said the right things at the break. Perhaps he knew the buttons to push to get our Flying Dutchman, RvP, going again. Whatever someone did, please keep it up. Along with that, also please have a little chat with the refs, because Van Persie was offsides. By a longshot. I am not going to complain about it, but I will trust the official because it went our way. For whatever reason, the flag stayed down on Denilson’s through ball, Van Persie controlled it and smashed it in with his right foot. A beautiful shot, and all of a sudden we were level. Meanwhile, I was expecting a second Chelsea go to come at any minute; but the desperate defending of Clichy and Djourou meant that Almunia didn’t even have to make a save in the second half. Credit must also go to William Gallas and Bacary Sagna; all four defenders did well.

After the equalizer, the winner was not far off. Cesc loft a free kick towards the penalty area, Adebayor headed it down towards Van Persie who swiveled and launched a quick shot past a diving Cech. Unbelievable winner – at least in terms of it shocking me – and from there it was time for a nervy half hour. Except that Chelsea never ventured into that territory. They seemed to have the energy sucked out of them, something that I didn’t remember seeing. Their aura of inevitability was not there as it had been in the past. For example, a couple years back a Flamini goal had given us a 1-0 lead at the Bridge, only for Michael Essien to score from 35 yards out with an absolutely stunning goal. There wasn’t any moments like that. And for once, as a supporter of the Gunners, it was time to celebrate a win at Chelsea, and for a short while, an induction back into the title race. Seven points off the pace rolls off the tongue in a much nicer way than 13.

Going forward, we’re in a similar situation after the United victory. Spirits are high and visions of a title are dancing around in our heads once again. It’s time to enjoy that, but also be wary about the next few weeks. This result will be ruled null and void if performances at Man City and against Villa are repeated. Imagine if we’d come away with victories in those two matches. We’d be one off pace. So while it is delightful to bask in the glory of a win at Stamford Bridge, to really mean the most for this squad, more victories must follow. I’m tired of dropping points.

Match of the day highlights are after the jump, thanks to our friends at 101greatgoals. And please be so inclined to share your view.