Premier League 2018/19, Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea: Two things we noticed from an Arsenal perspective

It was indeed a vintage performance from Arsenal as they beat their London rivals Chelsea by two goals in a clash which saw the two most successful clubs in London go head to head.

Alexandre Lacazette put The Gunners ahead with a smart turn in the 18-yard box and a fantastic finish to beat Kepa Arizabalaga in the Chelsea goal before fit-again captain Laurent Koscielny improvised a cross from fellow centre-back Sokratis with his shoulder to direct the ball on target to give the Gunners a two-goal advantage and from then on, they never looked back.

Let's take a look at two things that were very impressive about the Gunners' win over The Blues.

#1 Arsenal were very organized defensively

Arsenal FC v Chelsea FC - Premier League

This was probably the most impressive part of the Gunners' play for large parts of the game. They defended resolutely. The centre back pairing of Sokratis and Laurent Koscielny were at their very best to keep the likes of Hazard, Willian and Pedro at bay for most parts of the game. Koscielny's statistics for the game is another reason why the Gunners shut out a talented Chelsea side.

The ex-France international was impressive throughout the game, making 13 clearances (seven more than any other player on the pitch), making three interceptions, and finishing with a 100 percent tackle success rate.

To cap it all, he scored a beautiful improvised goal with his shoulder and was deservedly awarded the man of the match for his display.

Sokratis also commanded his area very well putting in some very good tackles to deny the runs of Marcos Alonso. Even the likes of Pierre Emerick Aubameyang helped and put in some tackles when he was needed. In summary, it was a very organized defensive display from Arsenal.

#2 Unai Emery's Tactical Formation

The Spaniard is renowned for his ability to tweak formation and tactics depending on the team he plays, and for large parts of the season, he has proven to be an astute tactician when dealing with the opposition.

Jorginho was not given any breather by the Arsenal players

Rather than the 3-4-1-2 or 3-5-2 formation used by Emery in recent games to give the Gunners some solidity, he reverted to his preferred 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 diamond formation to stop the threat of Chelsea going forward. He used Lucas Torreira on the right-hand side of midfield to give support to Hector Bellerin and Matteo Guendouzi on the left to give support to Sead Kolasinac.

The tactic used by Unai Emery worked perfectly. Chelsea had the likes of Willian, Pedro and Hazard going forward. They are skillful and tricky, and it was obvious before the game that Chelsea's main threat will come from the wide areas.

Lucas Torreira was sent to neurtalize the threat. Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi were instructed to stay on the heels of the likes of Pedro and Willian and it worked perfectly.

Jorginho, who is seen as Chelsea's deep-lying playmaker, who has the ability to tread passes over the top of the opposition defence, was man-marked by Aaron Ramsey and that completely neutralised Chelsea's attacking threat.

The Bosnian, Sead Kolasinac, admitted that this tactic worked in helping the team romp to a 2-0 win. He spoke to Arsenal.com

I think we worked really well as a back four today, but you can’t forget the work of the midfielders who were excellent - Matteo on my side, Lucas and Granit in the middle. They had to run a lot and they did that for the team. That made it easier for us.

This added impetus to the Gunners' solidity and they kept a very rare and impressive clean sheet against a top side in Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea.

Edited by Liam Wraith