[ad_1]
There were three minutes remaining when Arsenal fans finally started heading for the exits. They knew they were watching for a lost cause. Chelsea’s supremacy has never been in doubt and the worry of Mikel Arteta, a manager who seems increasingly short of inspiration, is that the mood will turn toxic if Arsenal slip into mediocrity shows no signs of slowing down.
Useless and scoreless after their first two games, Arteta’s players need to show their manager an answer as soon as possible. Arsenal were largely dominated by the European champions, who took the win thanks to a first goal from Romelu Lukaku and a crushing strike from the excellent Reece James.
Emirates Stadium was a irritable place everywhere. It was a surprise to see empty seats strewn across the floor, exposing the sense of drift that hangs over this unhappy club, and it wasn’t long before apathy began to turn into anger. Forget about being happy to be back: Patience was lacking after Arsenal’s dismal loss to Brentford last week – even though there was warm applause for Martin Odegaard when the £ 34million signing of the Real Madrid were paraded shortly before kick-off – and there was something oddly reassuring about home fans taking every 18 minutes to start hammering their own players.
The boos that greeted the whistle at half-time were quite predictable, with initial optimism fading as soon as Chelsea began to insist on Arsenal’s defensive vulnerabilities. Despite all of Arteta’s challenge, attempts to create a siege mentality, the painful truth is that Arsenal’s fragility was impossible to conceal. Their bench was littered with deadwood – it’s unclear why players like Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers and Mohamed Elneny weren’t moved – and they were inferior in every area of the pitch, their weaknesses with and without the ball. too obvious. .
Everyone saw it coming, a sense of dread took over when news emerged that Ben White was becoming the last Arsenal player to test positive for Covid-19. Willian, Alexandre Lacazette and Runar Alex Runarsson were already unavailable, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was only ready for a place on the bench, and White’s loss hardly inspired confidence in Arsenal’s ability to contain Lukaku. .
Rob Holding was an unsatisfactory replacement for the £ 50million center-back. Lukaku’s performance was a reminder that Didier Drogba was terrorizing Arsenal in their heyday, while there were few scares for Chelsea at the back. Gabriel Martinelli did not offer anything up front for Arsenal.
The early push from Arteta’s side never really convinced. There were a few promising moments from the hosts, with Albert Sambi Lokonga offering some nice touches in midfield, Emile Smith-Rowe testing Édouard Mendy with a sparkling strike from 20 yards, but the truth is that the opening goal from Chelsea was so easy on his arrival. the 15th minute.
The move started with Lukaku pinning Pablo Marií, deftly protecting the ball from the center-back, and sped up as Mateo Kovacic curved a nice pass over to James, arriving unnoticed from the depths to take advantage of a disastrous offside trap. . Arsenal’s slowness was astounding. Cedric Soares was the defender against James and there was no sign of a response from Arteta’s four full-backs once the danger materialized. Marí failed to stay with Lukaku and the Belgian was on hand to complete the move, flaunting his scoring instinct as he burst into the six-yard box to convert James’ low cross.
Lukaku was a constant threat, despite only playing 45 minutes alone for Inter during the preseason. The 28-year-old gave Chelsea an attacking focal point, creating room for Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, and he was way too sharp for Arsenal center-backs, intimidating them throughout.
Arsenal looked scared. They tried to shake off the striker, Marí booked for a meaty challenge from behind, but it made no difference. Chelsea remained calm, with Jorginho and Kovacic slipping through midfield, and it was no surprise when they doubled their lead 10 minutes before the break.
It was another smart goal, although the defense again left a lot to be desired with Lokonga and Soares somehow allowing Havertz to return the ball to Marcos Alonso on the left. Alonso was absent and Granit Xhaka’s desperate attempt to slow down the movement by fouling Lukaku made no difference. Paul Tierney played the advantage after correctly spotting that the Arsenal midfielder had melted and it was left to the exceptional Mount to free James, who capped a raging display by crushing his shot past Bernd Leno.
The Fiver: Sign up and receive our daily football email.
At least Arsenal have assembled some sort of response, with Bukayo Saka seeing a call for a penalty dismissed. Very briefly, César Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rüdiger were brought in to work behind Chelsea. Saka saw a deflected drive overturned by Mendy early in the second half and Arsenal seemed certain to pull one off just before the hour mark, only for Holding to have a head a few inches wide.
Still, the charge quickly fizzled out, even with Aubameyang sent for Saka. There was never any real prospect of a return and Chelsea always carried a threat at the break, with Mount closing in before Leno did wonders by pushing Lukaku’s header up the bar.
In the end, Chelsea settled for 2-0. They had established their credentials. Arsenal, who are visiting Manchester City, are taking the opposite direction.
[ad_2]
Source link