toptop
Chelsea
extended Jose Mourinho's winning run over Arsene Wenger with a comfortable 2-0
victory to knock Arsenal out of the Capital One Cup at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners manager had never got the better of his Portuguese counterpart in
eight previous meetings, and that figure became nine courtesy of goals either
side of half-time from Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata.
The result saw the home side fail to reach the quarter-finals of the competition
for the first time since 2002, but they paid the price for failing to convert
pressure, especially in the second half, into chances.
Wenger made eight changes to the side that started last Saturday's win over
Crystal Palace, with the trio Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla
keeping their places.
Meanwhile Jose Mourinho's unhappiness at having to send a team out barely 48
hours after the last-gasp win over City was reflected in a team selection that
featured just Gary Cahill from the 11 that walked out at Stamford Bridge over a
day after Arsenal had left the Selhurst Park pitch.
The host of changes by both managers meant two of the country's top sides using
many players with little game-time under their belts as October edged towards
November, but it was Chelsea who looked the far more comfortable as the game
unfolded.
The west London outfit won a string of early corners as they enjoyed the best of
the possession without troubling Lukasz Fabianski in the home goals. At the
other end, the hosts failed to test Chelsea's oldest ever player, 41-year-old
Mark Schwarzer making a rare appearance as Petr Cech rested.
But Chelsea took the lead on 25 minutes through an unlikely source as yet again
a defence facing the Blues conspired to present them with a gilt-edged chance to
score.
The confusion as Carl Jenkinson failed to decisively deal with a ball dropping
on the edge of his box had shades of the Joe Hart-Matija Nastasic incident two
days earlier, but this time it was Azpilicueta, racing upfield from defence
following a corner, who was on hand to touch the ball in off the post for his
first Chelsea goal since his move from Marseilles in August 2012.
The goalscorer soon allowed fellow Spaniard Nacho Monreal a shooting chance, but
his raking effort following a mistake from the Chelsea defender flew across
Schwarzer's goal and just wide.
But the goal failed to spur Arsenal on into a concerted response, with Nicklas
Bendtner cutting an isolated figure up front, while Chelsea were quick to snuff
out any home attacks. In fact Mata, required to put in a shift when his side are
without the ball by his manager, personified Chelsea's committed approach.
A deflected shot from Ramsey that bobbled wide early in the second half lifted
the home fans and led to their side's best spell so far. But failure to
pressurize Schwarzer, particularly by Bendtner, led to more frustration and
continually let Mourinho's men off the hook.
Ramsey pulled a shot wide seconds before Mesut Ozil replaced the anonymous
Miyaichi on the hour as Wenger looked for his side to properly assert
themselves. However Mata's brilliant strike shredded the script marked
"comeback", the Spain international taking one touch to control the ball after
it skimmed off Willian's head before rifling an unstoppable drive past Fabianski
from the edge of Arsenal's area.
Olivier Giroud drove a shot at Schwarzer, but another substitute in Ramires came
close to extending Chelsea's lead within seconds, his fine dribble only thwarted
when Koscielny luckily squeezed the ball to safety after treading on it.
The away side held their hosts at arm's length for the rest of the match, and
ended the evening as comfortable winners to the delight of the 9,000 fans that
had made the short journey across the capital.
Teams
Arsenal Fabianski, Jenkinson, Koscieiny, Vermaelen, Monreal, Ramsey
(Park 82), Wilshere, Rosicky, Cazorla, Miyaichi (Ozil 62), Bendtner (Giroud 67)
Subs Not Used Viviano, Sagna, Hayden, Yennaris
Booked
Goals
Chelsea Schwarzer, Azpilicueta, Cahill, Luiz, Bertrand, Essien, Mikel,
De Bruyne (Ramires 68), Mata (Kalas 90), Willian, Eto’o (Ba 81)
Subs Not Used Blackman, Ivanovic, Hazard, Torres
Booked Mikel, Essien
Goals Azpilicueta 25, Mata 66
Attendance 59,455
Referee Phil Dowd