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Chelsea welcomed Arsenal at the Stamford Bridge on Saturday for the Premier League’s second blockbuster weekend in succession. The two clubs had met 52 times in total in the Premier League and with 19 wins, Arsenal had the upper edge till now, while Chelsea had won 17. 16 of these games had ended in draws. History suggested that the tie is heavily favoured to the home side, with both clubs enjoying 12 wins at home.
Unai Emery’s first game was a learning experience for him, as his team adjusted to his tactics. Against City, Arsenal had 9 shots, 3 on target, and 42% possession. They attempted 401 passes with 79% accuracy and committed 11 fouls. Unfortunately, City were too strong and won 2-0 comfortably.
In contrast, Sarri, after losing the Community Shield, bounced back well against Huddersfield, winning 3-0. Chelsea had 13 shots, 4 of which were on target and had 63% possession. Sarri ball seems to have grown into the team as Chelsea played 658 passes with an accuracy of 88%. With both clubs coming into the game in contrasting fortune, this set up a mouthwatering tie to look forward to.
Sarri started with Morata leading the line with Willian and Pedro either side of him. Kante, Jorginho and Barkley made up Chelsea’s fiery new-look midfield. The back four comprised of Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz and Alonso. New signing Kepa Arrizabalaga continued in goal. Interestingly, Hazard started from the bench, along with Giroud and another new signing Kovacic.
Unai Emery made two changes from the team that lost to City in the opening weekend. Monreal came in for Mainland-Niles and Iwobi came in for Ramsey.
Arsenal looked lively for the first few minutes, but Chelsea gradually got their grip in the game. They took the lead through Pedro is the 9th minute. Arsenal were wasteful in front of goal and were punished by Morata in the 20th minute when the Spaniard doubled the lead.
Arsenal would go on to miss more chances but fought back with a goal from Mkhitaryan in the 37th minute. Iwobi then got the scores level by putting the ball in the net in the 41st minute. The first half ended 2-2. In the second half, both teams rallied for a goal. Ultimately, it was Hazard’s trickery which found Alonso to score the winner in the 81st minute.
As Chelsea got the better of Arsenal, we look at 5 reasons why Sarri triumphed over Emery the first time they have met in the Premier League.
#5 Arsenal were poor in front of goal
When Chelsea were just a goal up, Aubameyang had a glorious opportunity to even the scores and missed it. Chelsea immediately went ahead and doubled the lead. It was Mkhitaryan’s turn next as he too missed a sitter. Aubameyang missed another clear chance again before the end of the first half.
Even though Iwobi scored one, he missed another easy opportunity later on. Had it not been for some poor performance in front of the goal Arsenal could have scored at least 3 more goals. Even though they lost the game, Arsenal showed the world that Chelsea were pretty vulnerable at the back. However, Emery’s side's misses in front of goal were Sarri’s gains on the night. Arsenal had 15 shots with 6 of them on target. Chelsea had 24 shots, with 11 of them on target.
#4 Chelsea's midfield dominated proceedings
Chelsea had 63% possession and 891 touches on the ball. They attempted 719 passes with 89% accuracy. Arsenal had 605 touches on the ball and attempted 427 passes with 82% accuracy.
Right from the start, Kante and Jorginho seemed to be on the same wavelength. Those two were ably supported by Barkley, who had one of his better games. The Chelsea midfield showed greater intent in the game. Kante was fabulous as usual, joining in the attack as well as helping out in retrieving the ball. The arrival of Jorginho seems to have freed up the Frenchman.
Chelsea pressed better, closed down the opponents with great urgency and on most occasions, won back the ball almost immediately. This is an aspect of Sarri Ball, Maurizio Sarri’s tactics, and the Chelsea midfield seems to have been tutored well into the details of Sarri’s philosophy.
Most of all, Arsenal’s two-man pivot of Guendouzi and Xhaka was dominated by the midfield trio of Chelsea. Ozil should have dropped down more to help out his midfield, but the German does not have that aspect to his game, which is something Emery must ponder upon.
#3 Arsenal had no answer for Alonso
Alonso has continued his fine form from last season into Sarri’s team. When Sarri shifted Chelsea to a 4-4-2, there was a concern about Alonso’s style of play, because the Spaniard prefers to play as a wing-back. But to be fair to him, even though he has looked vulnerable in the defence at times, Alonso continued his offensive duties without a hint of doubt.
For starters, he continuously dragged Bellerin back by overlapping and running in from the deep. It was from one of those runs that he assisted Pedro for the opener. He was culpable for the Iwoby goal when he allowed Mkhitaryan to venture past him, but he made up for it by scoring the winner.
Like on numerous occasions in the game, he had joined the attack and found himself in space in the near post. When Hazard found him, the Spaniard kept his cool and scored from a controlled finish.
#2 Chelsea's runners from the deep
Arsenal started the game with a high line and Chelsea played this to their advantage, by scoring two well-taken goals. Chelsea players regularly ran in from deep, while Jorginho and Luiz tried to find them with long balls from the back. Barkley did this quite well on more than one occasions and even Kante got the better of the Gunners' defence a couple of times.
This was especially evident in Chelsea’s second goal when Morata took advantage of Arsenal’s high line and ran on to receive Azpilicueta’s long ball over the defence and put the ball past a hapless Cech. In the second half, Arsenal stopped keeping a high line and looked stronger in defence.
Yet, Chelsea continued to push men forward, running the lines and trying to find the gaps. Ultimately, it was Alonso running in from the left back position, who latched on to Hazard’s pass and scored the winner.
#1 Jorginho
Chelsea have already summed up 1377 passes in the two games in the league so far and much of that is down to their new man Jorginho, who has 165 passes to his name in the two games he has played. The Italian also has 185 touches of the ball so far in the league and against Arsenal, he showed his class.
His performance was hardly laboured, yet he controlled the tempo of the play in the first half. He interchanged short passes with his defence and as soon as he spotted a runner, unleashed long balls that split the Arsenal defence. Gunners could not pick him up and Jorginho played his natural game with ease. It was his ball that unleashed Alonso to assist Pedro’s first goal.
Time and again, Jorginho found his man, anticipating the runs of his teammates and weighing his pass accordingly. With him leading them, Chelsea were comfortable on the ball in tight spaces and moving the ball well.
In the second half, Arsenal tried to counter his threat by sitting deep, but this only enables Jorginho to impact the game higher up on the pitch. Jorginho had been an important part of Napoli’s resurgence under Sarri and you cannot bet against it happening again at Chelsea.
