
Shots: 6-5 Possession: 47%-53% Chances created: 5-3 Pass accuracy: 82%-85% Clearances: 14-15

Chelsea XI: Courtois; Azpilicueta, Luiz, Cahill; Moses, Kante, Matic, Alonso; Hazard, Pedro, Costa
Subs: Begovic, Terry, Zouma, Chalobah, Fabregas, Willian, Batshuayi
Arsenal XI: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Gabriel, Maitland-Niles, Reine-Adelaide, Welbeck, Giroud
Standings
#
|
Team
|
GP
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
GD
|
PTS
| |
1
|
24
|
19
|
2
|
3
|
51
|
17
|
34
|
59
| ||
2
|
23
|
13
|
8
|
2
|
45
|
16
|
29
|
47
| ||
3
|
24
|
14
|
5
|
5
|
52
|
28
|
24
|
47
| ||
4
|
23
|
13
|
7
|
3
|
52
|
28
|
24
|
46
| ||
5
|
23
|
14
|
4
|
5
|
47
|
28
|
19
|
46
| ||
6
|
23
|
11
|
9
|
3
|
33
|
21
|
12
|
42
| ||
7
|
23
|
10
|
7
|
6
|
34
|
24
|
10
|
37
| ||
8
|
23
|
9
|
6
|
8
|
31
|
29
|
2
|
33
| ||
9
|
23
|
7
|
8
|
8
|
29
|
35
|
-6
|
29
| ||
10
|
23
|
9
|
2
|
12
|
25
|
33
|
-8
|
29
| ||
11
|
23
|
8
|
4
|
11
|
29
|
40
|
-11
|
28
| ||
12
|
23
|
7
|
6
|
10
|
23
|
28
|
-5
|
27
| ||
13
|
23
|
7
|
6
|
10
|
27
|
39
|
-12
|
27
| ||
14
|
23
|
7
|
5
|
11
|
32
|
41
|
-9
|
26
| ||
15
|
23
|
4
|
9
|
10
|
19
|
26
|
-7
|
21
| ||
16
|
23
|
5
|
6
|
12
|
24
|
38
|
-14
|
21
| ||
17
|
23
|
6
|
3
|
14
|
28
|
52
|
-24
|
21
| ||
18
|
23
|
5
|
4
|
14
|
32
|
41
|
-9
|
19
| ||
19
|
23
|
4
|
5
|
14
|
20
|
47
|
-27
|
17
| ||
20
|
23
|
4
|
4
|
15
|
20
|
42
|
-22
|
16
When he
plays like this, it is tempting to think that Eden Hazard could carry
any side he chose to the Premier League title but the truth is that
Chelsea are just too good a team for the rest and their sensational
Belgian is the man who leads the show.
The memory of his second half goal will live long and rightly so, having beaten Laurent Koscienly twice and left Francis Coquelin, the wrong way round and face down on the ground, like a man who had unsuccessfully tried to intercept a runaway golf buggy. It had Roman Abramovich high-fiving his guests in the expensive seats but this afternoon was about much more than Hazard’s goal. This was the ultimate Conte Chelsea performance in which they restricted one of their two key title rivals to a few meagre chances and passed around them in midfield with the crisp, one-touch style that has become the 2016-2017 trademark. This is not a side that keeps the ball in a holding pattern before it decides where to direct an attack, it goes for the jugular each time. Can anyone catch Conte’s team now? They finished the match 12 points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in second place with 14 games to play. Their manager seemed to cover as much ground in the technical area as some of Arsenal’s more peripheral figures and when Hazard scored the second, the Chelsea manager launched himself head first into the home fans in celebration.
As for
Arsène Wenger in the stand, serving out his touchline ban there will
just have been regrets. Too few of his big name players, especially
Alexis Sânchez and Mesut Özil did not come close to the quality of
Hazard and Diego Costa, while Coquelin and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in
central midfield was always a risk. N’Gole Kanté and Nemanja Matic were
unstoppable.
The mistake made by Petr Cech to gift a third goal to substitute Cesc Fabregas against his former team turned a bad afternoon into a borderline humiliation. If there was a genuine grievance for Arsenal then it was about the legitimacy of Marcos Alonso’s first goal during which Hector Bellerín had been badly injured. | ||
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