Result: Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 6 November 2022
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Holding, Cedric, Lokonga, Elneny, Vieira, Nelson, Nketiah
Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Chelsea secured by Gabriel Magalhaes’ close-range finish from a Bukayo Saka corner.
While clearcut chances were at a premium at both ends, the Gunners were dominant for large swathes of the match and were good value for the three points and a third consecutive win at Stamford Bridge.
Pre-game
Oleksandr Zinhenko’s inclusion was the only change from last weekend’s win over Nottingham Forest. The Ukrainian replaced Takehiro Tomiyasu at left back after the Japan international picked up an injury in the midweek win over FC Zurich. Kieran Tierney had to settle for a place on the bench.
First Half
Arsenal have made a habit of starting matches quickly this season and this was no different.
In the opening five minutes, we repeatedly cut through the home side with Zinchenko and Partey combining well in the middle of the park and Martinelli and Saka providing width and an outlet to move from out to in.
Arsenal looked confident. There was a swagger about our play. The passing was crisp, the first touches tight, and the movement choreographed. Chelsea are no mugs and after a nervy start, they settled. They even created the first clear opportunity of the match with Haverz escaping behind Zinchenko only to overhit a cross when Aubameyang was lurking.
Ben White was excellent. Twice he made decisive headed clearances and up the other end dragged a shot wide on the diagonal as he offered support to Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal continued to look the more threatening but clearcut chances were few and far between. Martinelli curled over Mendy’s bar and Thiago Silva made a fine block to deny Gabriel Jesus who’d embarked on one of those double-quick head-down dribbles he’s known for.
A series of fouls broke up the flow of the game. Mount on White, Odegaard on Sterling, Saliba on Mount. By the time Aubameyang went in on White in the 27th minute, referee Michael Oliver had no choice but to go to his pocket. Our former captain went in the book.
Our best chance of the half came very soon after. Little triangles at the back worked the ball into the midfielder and quickly out to Xhaka and then Martinelli on the left. The Brazilian spotted Jesus peeling off towards the back post and curled a beauty of a ball in his direction. The striker hurled himself at the ball but couldn’t direct his header on goal. It was a glorious chance and another to add to the growing list of those Jesus has spurned in recent weeks.
The miss summed us up in the final third. Odegaard seemed to wriggle into rather than out of trouble, a couple of Xhaka passes went astray and Cucurella roughed up Saka with a series of niggly tackles, some given as fouls and others not. The frustration got the better of our winger who put his foot in on the Spaniard to earn a booking.
All in all, not bad, but could do better.
Second half
The niggly undercurrent continued after the break. Azpilicueta was cautioned for a foul on Martinelli. Partey then took out Loftus-Cheek and somehow avoided a booking.
The challenge was maintaining our focus as the home crowd grew noisier with a sense of injustice.
Odegaard spread the play to Jesus who curled a dangerous cross that Mendy punched away. The Norwegian then commanded the ball from a short corner and crossed into the six yard box where Partey took the ball off Martinelli’s head. We were building up momentum only for an emergency in the crowd to bring play to a stop.
When play resumed, we were on it. First Saka picked out Martinelli who tried an ambitious volley. Jesus then tried to sneak an effort inside Mendy’s near post after he’d won the ball off Silva and exchanged passes with Saka. The keeper parried the ball out for a corner.
From the resulting set piece, Saka flung in a low ball to the near post that crept through a crowd of players before Gabriel Magalhaes converted from on the line. Breakthrough! (GOAL – 1-0)
As the players celebrated in front of the travelling support, Graham Potter subbed off Aubameyang; he’d barely had a sniff all game. There was to be no revenge goal from our former captain.
Arsenal continued to turn the screw and Saka twice had chances to double the lead. First he shanked into the stands after striking with his right foot at the back post and soon after he nearly nickd the ball over Mendy as he chased down a long ball. The keeper did well to read the danger.
Another counterattack led by Jesus saw Odegaard played in on goal. The midfielder cut inside trying to get the ball on his left foot before curling over. It was a bad miss. What followed was five minutes of intense Arsenal pressing that saw us box in the home side. It was brilliant to watch and the only shame was that we didn’t get the goal our dominance deserved.
Arteta made his first change of the afternoon on 78 minutes, replacing Zinchenko with Tierney. He entered the fray as the pace of the game became frantic. White tried to calm things down with a classic bit of time-wasting and was subsequently booked. The right-back then produced a brilliant clearance to stop Mount from getting on the end of a low cross.
In between, there was a VAR check for a handball by Cucurella. The ball definitely hit the Spaniard’s hand but it was decided contact was just outside the box.
As the rain poured down, we did really well keeping the home side at arm’s length. Time and again, the defence mopped up crosses and the midfield pounced on second balls. In stoppage time, right in front of the Arsenal fans, Xhaka had a coming together with Chalobah as he tried to stop.
In a sign of the times, the Swiss kept his cool despite a shove from Kovacic and the clock continued to tick down.
Chelsea just couldn’t get near us. We were superior in every department and the win was as deserved as any this season. A great performance and a result that will turn some more heads.
Fuckin’ Excellent
Is this definitely real?
Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected us to be where we currently are at this stage of the season. This team has been absolutely superb.
Arsenal winning games against Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea in the space of a month.
I just… I’m… not really sure I’m still alive.
Thank you Mikel. Thank you so much. Joking aside, I genuinely had forgotten what it feels like to support an excellently functioning and impeccably managed side.
COYFG!!!!!
If you’ve forgotten it spare a thought for those of us who’ve never known it – we got to the 90th minute and I was terrified about watching our five tiny inside-forwards trying to defend a 1-0 lead, and then I realised we didn’t have five inside-forwards, instead we had five brick shithouses at the back, a giant and relentless midfield three, Gabriel Jesus up top who collects long balls like he’s 8 foot tall, and Saka who has the centre of gravity of a dishwasher. Chelsea couldn’t get near us, and it was equal parts genuinely fucking bizarre and… Read more »
Thanks to Auba for being no threat at all. Still an Arsenal man at heart, helps us win.
We nailed them at their own stadium. It was like we are playing at the Emirates.
To be fair, how quiet was Stamford Bridge?
Would love to hear from anyone who was there…
But it sounded quiet af.
Never got worried about Chelsea when they were buying up Koulibaly, Cucarella and Sterling.
They just don’t make sense as a football team and it’s being proven now.
Thanks Todd Boehly. Great work lad!
In all seriousness, Chelsea still have the residue of all those years of spending: a huge roster of very talented players. But soon, they will be like us, Liverpool, and Spurs–real money, but not unlimited and required to be self-sustaining. Abramovitch averaged a loss of 800,000 pounds a WEEK, for 19 years!!
Cucarella looked good when he was at Brighton and Chelsea buying him seemed like a good move on their behalf. Then i watched him against us yesterday. Christ he was shit.
As true as death
and taxes?
One way traffic most of the match! Lots of chances, they had few.
Robbie Earl on USA TV called this a “1-0 hammering” and I agree
Was about to post this. Nervous as a fan so it was interesting to hear a neutral call it that way. Lucky to hit Chelsea in a transition period but we really were dominant in a way we haven’t been in years. Total midfield control and our backline looked genuinely intimidating. Just trying to stay calm, but we are getting cl9se to having to ask that crazy question…
We will nee to take our chances more reliably against better teams though. It only takes one bit of luck and you lose 2 points against the run of play.
Better teams? The only PL side left that is considered better is City (maybe Newcastle at a stretch). We’ve played the rest already
It would be a mistake to underestimate away matches as being equal to home games. Also there will be better teams in Europe now.
Chelsea back to pre-Roman default settings
Sort of Iron Age settings …?
I had a dream I saw odegard lifting the premier league title in 2023. It is coming to reality.
I turned 38 today and this is the most priceless gift for me.What a solid performance and another ‘statement victory’! This team is really an excellent one that dominates and wins games with absolute swagger.Saliba is the best defender in epl.What a sunday!
Happy birthday. My boy turned 16 today and when asked him what he wished for when cutting his cake – he said for Arsenal to beat Chelsea. So happy he got to see a great performance and result.
Calm down, we haven’t played anyone yet!
Yeah, that was Only Chelsea after all.
10/10 to Partey for elbowing Sterling and giving him a yellow card for walking into his elbow!!!
Probably the biggest result of the season. Away win against a top 4 rival and back to the top of the table – absolutely huge. COYG!
Absolutely agree. This is the game really waiting for to see what sort of performance we’d produce.
Was going to reply, but so fucking excited I down-voted you instead. Anyone know how to reverse downvotes on this site?
Hit the upvote twice
Liverpool win at the Ems was the biggest of the season for me. Gave the whole team an injection of belief and put all other EPL teams on alert. They fear the Arsenal now.
Liverpool result gotta be bigger. Beating them after going 4 games without a goal against them last season, gave the team the belief they needed
With White, Gabriel and Saliba, I have never felt so confident in dealing with aerial attacks. Brilliant and inspiring victory at a club I really don’t like!
Saliba and Gabriel best partnership in the league.
And if anyone drops Tomi is equally good, arguably even better than all but Saliba. Insane depth.
And to dominate them like that! I’m over the moon:-)
Fucking unbelievable!
Great result! We were by far the stronger throughout, loads more chances than them. Given we were playing away, a great step forward. Top of the league again!
Win the match next week and we will be top until Boxing Day at least.
Imagine if the league had not contrived to hand Man City the win yesterday… we would be buzzing even more right now.
My thoughts exactly. Those 2 points gifted City yesterday feel even more painful now. Incredible how the match VAR pretended not to notice the worst dive you ever saw.
We are the Arsenal!
We are!
If you didn’t believe. Now it’s the time to believe. I can only imagine how clinched the collective asses of the Arsenal must have been.
We are in this title fight.
COYG!!! LFG!!!
Winning 1-0 away at the Bridge and we didn’t even have to bring on Holding until the 91st minute. Get in!
Good one! 🙂
Holdings hair held up impressively in the heavy rain. Looks like he might have given the hair doctors number to big gabby as well.
Early 10/10 rating for Xhaka saying the F word on his BT sport interview 😂😂😂
They never looked like scoring which is hugely impressive. What a wonderful time to be alive 🤓
xG: Chelsea (0.24) 0-1 (2.38) Arsenal
What a team performance. MOM split between Thomas P, Saliba and GJ imo.
Thomas keeps this team together.
Both big players for us
He may not have scored, but how much of a handful is Gabriel Jesus? Fucking immense player. Just wish he could somehow improve his finishing, then he’d be an even more destructive weapon.
Benny Blanco for me – absolutely faultless!
Nothing personal Auba!
Oh was he at the stadium today? Didn’t see him 😂😂
He was reflecting on his best years spent at the Arsenal, hehehehehehehehehe.
Massive.
A deserved win! Bullied them through some excellent football!
Could have been 3 or 4-0
Abumeyang doesn’t score. Top of the league. London is Red it doesn’t get much better! COYG
Wow. We’ve been more thrilling in other games this season but for me that was our best managed game so far. I didn’t even feel nervous at the end.
Not once was I concerned. This isn’t Arsenal
These boys are awesome, onwards and upwards we match. COYG! fuckin’ loving it.
Today was a really hard day for me. Depression episodes coming back, and coming back hard. I really needed this, COME ON YOU GUNNERSS!
Feel better, my fellow Gunner.
Thanks for the kind words. Been living alone after my divorce 4 years back. Paying alimonies but hardly seeing my son in return. Arsenal is all I have to uplift my mood and it’s amazing how I can bond to a complete stranger on arseblog purely out of love for the Arsenal.
Regardless where we finish this season, the fact that I look forward to us playing week in week out is a gift already.
Will say a prayer for you so things get better soon in your personal life. The club is doing its bit!
Good luck handling the dark moods. Glad the Gunners could give you a lift mate.
Please speak to someone. There is always light at the end of the tunnel fellow gooner
Prayers are going up for you. Rejoice in spite of the odds.🙏🏾
Never in doubt Partey playing the best football of his Arsenal career absolute beast today
Get in there, lads! Well done! Feels so damn good.
Also I enjoyed Michael Oliver today and the way he controlled the game throughout.
No he let chelski get away with an awful lot today
The game was very combative and always one situation away from boiling over, but he kept it flowing with his authority. Credit where credit is due, I reckon.
The first game I enjoyed with him in the middle. Amazing stuff.
Howard Webb \ Pierluigi Collina vibes written all over it. Only those two ever gave me the feeling that the match is under control to such an extent. I say well done, Mr. Oliver.
I think it’s ok to start getting used to the idea that we are good enough and indeed in the title race!! I don’t want to pile on any player – they were all awesome individually and collectively, controlling the game for 95 minutes. But it would have been a stronger statement if only Jesus and Odegaard took those chances. That being said, I’m so effing proud of this Arsenal and this manager!!
What a genuine TEAM with incredible spirit. After the rather fortunate result for Man City yesterday so many thought they would be top after today and before World Cup break but not this team. It’s almost as if everybody is writing them off and they enjoy being underdogs continually defying the odds. I think Man City are actually pushing this team to a new level
Arsenal is pushing Man City into a state of panic.
Great win but a poor result. We utterly dominated the Chavs and should have won it 3 or 4 nil. Defensively we were superb: Ramsdale literally had nothing to do all afternoon. He was a spectator. And we completely bossed the midfield. But upfront? Jesus missed a sitter in the first half, and then we failed to take good chances in the second period. Eventually the excellent Gabriel put one in. If we just had a lethal striker and better finishing from the front three then we could do some real damage. We must bring in a striker in January.… Read more »
I love ya fats but you be suffering from the character trait known as perfectionism. I watched the invincible’s play some poor games and get away with a draw or win. We were not lucky today. That was well deserved
I did NOT say we were lucky: we fully deserved the win. My point was that we made it hard for ourselves by being wasteful up front
You’re right that the finishing was not as good as it could have been but that’s been pretty obvious for a while if you look at the recent results (with the exception of the Forest game). We do everything right and impressively until it comes to putting the ball more often into the net. It cost us valuable points against Southampton recently and who wouldn’t prefer to be four points ahead of City rather than just two now? Hopefully, Jesus for one can get back to his early scoring form but the longer he goes without a goal the more… Read more »
Sometimes you just gotta accept the win, without any complaints.
We invaded and conquered Stamford bridge, and kept a clean sheet.
You’re too negative
Nothing personal Abumeyang. Also Saliba is different class. The boys the best defender I have seen at that age since Maldini
Great result. A quick look at the core stats told the story. amazingly we came out looking like the home team and unlucky to only win by 1 goal
I love Odegaard but I’m excited to see ESR and what he can do when he gets back because the one area he is clear is finishing and Odegaardmust work on that aspect. Not a knock on Martin but the flexibility of more goals from CAM is a good thing to have. I wish there was a way to play them both.
Better result than I thought we’d get (a draw) so very happy to be proved wrong. Chelsea wasn’t the threat that they should have been and there was no payback from Auba. I thought we were very good in patches, but the finishing still left something to be desired in my opinion – and no goal from Jesus (although he was close). Perhaps the coming break will help him to recharge and get back his scoring form which we’ll need in the new year. If we can finish on top of the PL after the Wolves game it will have… Read more »
Good comparison of what Jesus brings to the team that Auba didn’t – of how much Jesus contributes even when he doesn’t score.
I’m back and I’m blue 😂😂 that aged well
Wish we had scored upwards of 3 goals, so I could say we beat them black and blue
Exactly. Late in the game he was everywhere holding possession, keeping pressure on them. There was a moment that I thought it doesn’t matter if he rarely scores, the way he elevates our attacking flow and press is monumental to how we play.
William Saliba is a special player.
The very best young defender there is at the min.
I think everyone would agree now that Aubameyang is finished and it was good Arteta binned the proud, disrespectful and irresponsible former captain
I’m also sure he now knows he is the small player
If he played Saliba every week, yes. Hes “just” 33 and scored 11 goals last season in not vermy many games. Finished maybe a bit harsh but im really glad to have Jesus up front instead.
I only agree with the part that Mikel was right all along and vindication was on full display today in more ways than one. I love Auba as much as the next gooner, but club comes first. Always. Arteta made a best decision for Arsenal FC there. Nothing personal, Pierre-Emerick.
Looking at the teams, there is none of their players i would swap for one of ours. Not one. Im serious when i say Saliba is the best defender in the world. I wouldnt trade him for anyone.
That is a seriously good observation. Man to man, every player of us on the pitch were better. That probably was never true since the invincibles.
Partey was immense today. So good!
I absolutely, most definitely, certainly hate Chelsea. I’m a very happy man today
COYG!!!!
Come on Aston (Good Ebening) Villa /
Would like to see even more daylight between us and United.
Seriously such an odd feeling. No panic or stress even at 1-0; almost don’t care if Gabbie Jesus never scores if he bullies teams like that every week.
Manchester Unaited so far 🙂
That was mildly amusing the first 300 times we heard it, not so much now.
I watched this match in gear 1, 5am !😂 and I consider that an Excellent entertainment, thank you!
This is a massive statement from Arsenal. It was not just the win for me, but the manner. Total control from beginning to end.
Reducing a home team of Chelsea’s calibre to a single shot on target was immense.
A third of the season is gone; we have played all “big” teams bar City.
Something is brewing.
I think we may have to include Newcastle in our list of “big” teams.
A “routine” win. But then it’s ONLY Chelsea. COYG.
I hold my hands up and say i was wrong about Xakha and Arteta. Its easy to be negative when things are going wrong but its even easier to be positive when we are winning and its even more easier to laught at Man U loosing at Villa. I cant stand that team.
Arsenal haven’t played anybody really important. They’ll be found out against the first half-decent side they come against. (Me, training for my Pundit Badges).
We were just excellent.
Hoping a Gabi Gabi Gabi announcement in the Brazilian squad tomorrow morning will be the icing on the cake.
Hoping not
Saliba is f*cking world class.
And zinchenko is such an important player for us… I ve missed him. See how he tucked in midfield and allowed partey, xhaka to enjoy their game.
Lastly ødegaard needs to improve his shooting, this is about the 4th time he’s denied Jesus’ a brilliant assist. Jesus worked his socks off, wiggled past 4… Common captain u shouldn’t be missing that.
Saka and ødegaard needs to do more shooting practice.
It really felt like we were playing at the emirates… Weldone Mikel👏👏👏
Came in to look for the fat gunner comment and somehow didnt find one…? Proof that we did play a perfect match.
😄
You didn’t look carefully. It’s there, many rows before yours. Fats is in good form and did not pull any surprises.
Scroll up, his comments are there and he didn’t disappoint. He said it was a good performance but a poor result.
Glorious performance from the Arsenal. We move.👊🏾
Am I the only one who feel that Saka and Martinelli down the flanks are similar to when Robben and Ribery marched down their flanks too?
They will be better and no diving cunts like robben was!