Source: Telegraph
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0: match report
Sir Alex Ferguson had expressed the hope that Arsenal would 'absolutely batter' Chelsea this afternoon, but it was Arsène Wenger's team who were on the end of yet another sound beating against what are fast becoming the Premier League's 'big two'. [LNB]Between them, Chelsea and Manchester United have won the past five league titles and have also now each beaten Arsenal four times in 10 months. This 2-0 win extends Chelsea's lead over Arsenal to nine points and, with only 13 games remaining, reinforces the expectation of another two-horse title race. [LNB] Related ArticlesOutstanding Drogba highlights Arsenal's lack of a central strikerPremier League tablePremier League actionTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesSport on televisionIt was another major occasion when Wenger's huge confidence in his young team was not realised while his previous assessment of Didier Drogba as a player who 'doesn't do much' was also further undermined. Drogba had scored twice in Chelsea's 3-0 defeat of Arsenal at the Emirates and duly put the league leaders two goals clear today after just 22 minutes. [LNB]It also took Drogba's tally for the season to 22 and his personal haul against Arsenal to 12. [LNB]Poor defending contributed to both goals. The first arrived on eight minutes when Florent Malouda delivered a corner onto the head of an unmarked John Terry, who simply guided the ball across goal for Didier Drogba to volley beyond Manuel Almunia. Wenger was complaining vigorously to the fourth official, presumably in reference to a foul that had been awarded against Gael Clichy in the build-up to the goal. [LNB]Arsenal almost immediately had the chance to equalise but Andrei Arshavin volleyed into the legs of Petr Cech when he had the goal at his mercy following a wonderful Cesc Fabregas pass. [LNB]It was a miss that was quickly punished, although the source of Drogba's second will have infuriated Wenger. Having called his team 'naïve' after Manchester United scored twice from Arsenal corners last Sunday, his players again showed their vulnerability when they were attacking. [LNB]Following an Arsenal corner, Frank Lampard burst forward and simply fed the ball to Drogba wide on the right. Clichy, in particular, offered only negligible protection as Drogba cut inside and then smashed his shot beyond Almunia. [LNB]Arsenal improved during the second-half, particularly when Nicklas Bendtner was introduced and provided a different sort of threat with his more physical presence. [LNB]He won a free kick from which Fabregas forced a decent save but, generally, Arsenal continue to lack a natural focal point in attack without Robin van Persie. With Drogba again deadly he also rocked the crossbar with an 83rd minute free kick the same cannot be said of Chelsea. [LNB]
