Plucky 12-man Chelsea squeeze past nine-man Arsenal

STAMFORD BRIDGE—In a stirring display of tenacity, grit, and acumen, an undermatched and historically underfunded rag-tag collective of misfits bravely overcame all odds, drawing on every single ounce of moxie at its disposal in order to narrowly eke out a win that will be talked of through the ages. Despite never catching a single break in this match or in any other prior, and despite having to watch each and every halfpenny for decades. Chelsea’s dozen screwed their courage to the sticking spot and road Lady Luck’s coat-tails to victory over Arsenal’s nine. Never before and perhaps never again will we see one side overcome such short odds to achieve victory.

Alright, enough of that. Clearly, quite a few things went Pete Tong on Saturday. It was Gabriel, not Costa, who got sent off just before halftime despite Costa clawing, elbowing and chesting Koscielny to the floor. Yes, Gabriel was stupid in issuing an innocuous and flimsy kick to Costa after each man was booked; he should know Costa’s wind-up tactics and rise above them, even if Costa did say something unforgivable in Portugeuse. That Costa was still on the pitch was Dean’s worst failure. The Spaniard should have been sent off for barging Kos to the ground moments before. Zouma should have been booked at a minimum for throttling Gabriel during the melee. Instead, Costa managed to convince Dean that Gabriel’s response to that string of provocations deserved a red card. Madness. Moving on, Ramsey committed some kind of ghost-foul to set up the free-kick that gave Chelsea its first goal. To be honest, Cazorla probably earned his red card even if Fàbregas did make a meal of the moment by writhing around as if his leg had been broken—an injury that, if memory serves, he’s seen a teammate or two suffer in the past. Those were the days.

Still, I come away from this one feeling pretty damned good. Chelsea needed every last advantage Dean could offer them and still barely came away with the victory. Don’t let the scoreline fool you, for it flatters Chelsea: the second goal came in the waning seconds on a fluky deflection. Hazard, for once managing to keep his feet despite being in the penalty area, struck hard only to see it deflect off of Ramsey and in. That’s not entirely undeserved, but when you spend 45 minutes with a man-advantage, and fifteen minutes with a two-man advantage, you deliver more than this. Hell, Chelsea were lucky that Alexis didn’t equalise moments after Zouma’s goal (might have had something to do with the horse-collar Zouma offered…).

We know what to expect when we combine Mike Dean, Diego Costa, José Mourinho, and Stamford Bridge. Anyone who did more than hope or believe that we would win is probably a bit deluded. This is not three points dropped. Losing at home to West Ham? That’s three points dropped (thanks, Hammers, for winning at the Etihad). Losing at home to Crystal Palace is three points dropped. For as wonderful as it would have been to win, we had to know that the dice were loaded. Costa did what he does. Dean did what he does. Even if we’d come in on a run of form, which we didn’t, there’s little chance that we could have found a win. As it stands, we’re still lacklustre at best, struggling to find form, and so I don’t mind this result at all. I mind the method.

I’d imagine that most Chelsea fans are quite content with winning by any means necessary and will mock Gooners for moaning about the result (ignoring how loudly and persistently Mourinho moans after his squad loses). No matter how they gloat and try to lord it over us and others, they know that there’s an emptiness there too vast to fill, no matter how many players are rented or how much silverware is bought. If you don’t fight for something, it’s hard to feel like you’ve earned it.

The larger concern for us is coping with Gabriel’s absence over three matches. Mertesacker didn’t make the bench for this match (still ill or recovering from the car crash), so it might come down to Chambers. Worse, Coquelin could be out for a few weeks with a knee injury, exposing a gaping hole in our defense. We three away-matches in the next have ten days, a midweek League Cup clash at White Hart Lane, then a visit to King Power Stadium to face Leicester, and a Champions League group-stage trip to face Olympiacos. Too bad Arsène couldn’t quite find that other DM we now need a bit more than we did 24 hours ago. However, this is the squad we have, and there’s little to gain about whingeing about that now. We’ll have to dig a little deeper (for courage, not for transfer-fees) for now, and make the most of what we have.

At the end of the day, Chelsea are still looking up at us on the table. Long may it stay that way…

Anonymous 24/01/2023 at 4:34 pm

It is hard to believe that both Dean and his assistants could miss all three fouls committed by Costa and yet spotted Gabriel backing into Costa as he stopped suddenly. That said, where was a strong leader to get Gabriel, albeit sticking up for his mate, out of the picture let alone, knowing what Costa does, why were the players not coached to get away from him during these melees?Whether Dean is simply incompetent or just biased is hard to tell, but knowing his penchant for inconsistency professional players have to know this going into a game. It is one thing to play hard and foul when tackling, but it is another thing to get carded for arguing a call (Giroud midweek) or to get involved in a pushing and shoving fracas that can only lead to yellow cards (Gabriel)Now what really bothered me about the match was a total absence of play making well before the first red. Had the announcers not mentioned his name, I might have thought Ozil was not on the pitch. Once the team went to ten he vanished completely. One might have thought Arsenal had started with ten and finished with eight. Having consistently believed that he was a great playmaker and a brilliant passer, I am beginning to believe he is a misfit with Arsenal. Part of the problem may be his personality and apparent aversion to playing defense, but much of it does relate to a lack of players capable of taking advantage of his passing and then scoring. He does lack a wold class strike jus as much as the team does. Did I also mention his reluctance to shoot? Watching the match unfold one begins to believe his head is already in Turkey although the way he is now playing his price is plummeting and Arsenal would be happy, even in this over-heated market, to get 20 million for him, if that much.Meantime should we begin asking what has happened to Alexis? Something is wrong and we can't just try to attribute his lack of scoring to getting back to game shape after his summer play in South America. He is still present all over the pitch but the opponents seem to have completely closed him down. This does represent a tribute to good s outing and coaching, but then again, if he is being overplayed why is it that Arsenal does not take advantage elsewhere and respond? Oh, I forgot, we have a manager who, seemingly, never changes his game plans and never adjusts no matter what the situation.Finally, whether due to injuries (I thought we had some of the best physios), a misguided belief in aging stars, or a penny-pinching stubborness to address needs and potential player shortages or weaknesses, the chickens appear to have come home to roost. Red cards and injuries now have Arsenal, as Jon points out, facing a gauntlet of matches with a team bereft of stars at each position let alone any winning spirit or strength of character. This situation, sadly, must be placed directly in Arsene's lap. He had all summer to be proactive and address not only the coming season, but also to anticipate situations such as what we see. Much of what happened on the pitch yesterday is the result of a frustration on the part of players who must sense the season could be slipping away and that they have been saddled with a task beyond their capacities. Even in a sport where only the goalkeeper can legally use his hands, it is still difficult to be asked to play with one hand tied behind your back.

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2 thoughts on “Plucky 12-man Chelsea squeeze past nine-man Arsenal”

Anonymous 24/01/2023 at 4:34 pm

hahahahahaha!!!!! bet you wish you were a Chav now, don't you? I found this shitblog last night and read your pathetic “I was almost a Chav” post but this is even worst. you lost fair and square. if you're too pure to consider a dive or a windup here or there you're giong to end up on the wrong end of results all the time. might as well get used to it!

Reply ↓
Anonymous 24/01/2023 at 4:34 pm

It is hard to believe that both Dean and his assistants could miss all three fouls committed by Costa and yet spotted Gabriel backing into Costa as he stopped suddenly. That said, where was a strong leader to get Gabriel, albeit sticking up for his mate, out of the picture let alone, knowing what Costa does, why were the players not coached to get away from him during these melees?Whether Dean is simply incompetent or just biased is hard to tell, but knowing his penchant for inconsistency professional players have to know this going into a game. It is one thing to play hard and foul when tackling, but it is another thing to get carded for arguing a call (Giroud midweek) or to get involved in a pushing and shoving fracas that can only lead to yellow cards (Gabriel)Now what really bothered me about the match was a total absence of play making well before the first red. Had the announcers not mentioned his name, I might have thought Ozil was not on the pitch. Once the team went to ten he vanished completely. One might have thought Arsenal had started with ten and finished with eight. Having consistently believed that he was a great playmaker and a brilliant passer, I am beginning to believe he is a misfit with Arsenal. Part of the problem may be his personality and apparent aversion to playing defense, but much of it does relate to a lack of players capable of taking advantage of his passing and then scoring. He does lack a wold class strike jus as much as the team does. Did I also mention his reluctance to shoot? Watching the match unfold one begins to believe his head is already in Turkey although the way he is now playing his price is plummeting and Arsenal would be happy, even in this over-heated market, to get 20 million for him, if that much.Meantime should we begin asking what has happened to Alexis? Something is wrong and we can't just try to attribute his lack of scoring to getting back to game shape after his summer play in South America. He is still present all over the pitch but the opponents seem to have completely closed him down. This does represent a tribute to good s outing and coaching, but then again, if he is being overplayed why is it that Arsenal does not take advantage elsewhere and respond? Oh, I forgot, we have a manager who, seemingly, never changes his game plans and never adjusts no matter what the situation.Finally, whether due to injuries (I thought we had some of the best physios), a misguided belief in aging stars, or a penny-pinching stubborness to address needs and potential player shortages or weaknesses, the chickens appear to have come home to roost. Red cards and injuries now have Arsenal, as Jon points out, facing a gauntlet of matches with a team bereft of stars at each position let alone any winning spirit or strength of character. This situation, sadly, must be placed directly in Arsene's lap. He had all summer to be proactive and address not only the coming season, but also to anticipate situations such as what we see. Much of what happened on the pitch yesterday is the result of a frustration on the part of players who must sense the season could be slipping away and that they have been saddled with a task beyond their capacities. Even in a sport where only the goalkeeper can legally use his hands, it is still difficult to be asked to play with one hand tied behind your back.

Reply ↓