• Date: Sun 16 December 2007
  • Venue: Emirates Stadium
  • Ref: Wiley, A
  • Attendance: 60,139
Arsenal

Arsenal

Gallas (45)

1 - 0

Arsenal vs Chelsea

Team Lineups

Arsenal

Manuel Almunia
Gael Clichy
William Gallas
Bacary Sagna
Kolo Toure, K
Emmanuel Eboue (Robin van Persie, 69)
Cesc Fabregas
Tomas Rosicky
Mathieu Flamini
Alex Hleb (Aparecido Gilberto Silva, 77)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Nicklas Bendtner, 90)

Chelsea

Petr Cech
Paulo Ferreira
John Terry (Tal Ben Haim, 38)
Ashley Cole
Rodrigo da Costa Alex
Frank Lampard
John Obi Mikel
Shaun Wright-Phillips (Salomon Kalou, 75)
Claude Makelele (Claudio Pizarro, 65)
Joe Cole
Andriy Shevchenko


Live Text Commentary
90

Fabregas fouled Ashley Cole and then the Chelsea defender appeared to raise his hands to the Spaniard, a fiery end to a bad-tempered game

Full time
 

A frantic and often bad tempered game finishes 1-0 to Arsenal thanks to Gallas' header in first-half stoppage time.

90
Yellow Card
 

Fabregas misses another great chance and is then booked

90
Substitution
 

Nicklas Bendtner comes on for Adebayor in the final minute

90

Arsenal break menancingly on the counter again but can't make the most of it and Chelsea survive

90

Almunia tips Shevchenko's free-kick over, into the second minute of injury time now

90

Five minutes of stoppage time allocated as Chelsea earn a free-kick from a very good central position

89

Shevchenko wastes a chance now as his downward header is saved by Almunia

88

Cech makes a fantastic double save to deny Arsenal a second goal - first from Van Persie and then from Fabregas on the rebound

88

Chelsea have knocked on the door in the second half but Arsenal retain a slender lead

86

Joe Cole's shot never troubles Almunia - time running out for Chelsea now

84

Rosicky finds Van Persie who puts the ball in the net but he's offside, a tight decision though

82
Yellow Card
 

Mikel is booked now for a late challenge

79

Gael Clichy has to scramble the ball clear after Ashley Cole fizzes over a cross

77

It's still breathless - Kalou's curled shot is just wide

77

Van Persie then wastes a wonderful chance at the other end after an Arsenal counter - the substitute sliding in lifts his shot over the bar

76
Substitution
 

Hleb is now replaced by Gilberto Silva by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger

75
Substitution
 

Wright-Phillips is then hauled off - Salomon Kalou comes on his place

75

Wright-Phillips wastes a great chance for an equaliser, blasting well wide when it seemed easier to score

73
Yellow Card
 

Ben Haim becomes the eighth player to booked

72

Van Persie's involved again but this time his shot is way over

70

Van Persie almost makes an immediate impact, firing a shot at Cech that the Chelsea keeper bats away

68
Substitution
 

Eboue has also suffered an injury and will be forced off, Robin van Persie comes on for him

66
Yellow Card
 

Joe Cole is rightly booked for a foul on Eboue - Toure races upfield to complain

66

Gallas has picked up a knock and looks very unstable on his feet but, after some treatment, is back on

65
Substitution
 

Claudio Pizarro comes on for Makelele

64

Hleb can't quite get on the end of a pass and Cech comes out to gather

63
Yellow Card
 

Toure is also booked for showing dissent

62
Yellow Card
 

Flamini becomes the fifth player booked

61

Mikel strikes a good effort at goal but Almunia saves well

60

Still a lack of clear chances at either end but Wright-Phillips does his best to create one - his cross is just in front of Shevchenko though

57

Chelsea break on the counter-attack and Gallas has to concede a corner but nothing comes from it

55

Fabregas goes down under a tackle from Adebayor but it's not a free-kick

54

Lampard has to be alert to defend well again as Arsenal push early in the second half

52

Sagna's cross is defended well by Chelsea, as the Gunners look for a second goal

50

Ferreira's drilled cross is dangerous but Almunia claims the ball

48

There are fears that Terry, who was substituted in the first half, has suffered a broken metatarsal

47

Joe Cole aims a cross for Shevchenko but it's too high and harmless

Second half
 

Arsenal have a slender lead after Gallas' header just before the break - they kick off the second half

Half time
 

Half-time and Gallas, against his former club, has given Arsenal the advantage heading home from a corner, but it was a bad mistake from Cech

45
Goal
 

Gallas heads Arsenal in front in stoppage time, after a mistake from Cech

45

Rosicky breaks into the box but Ferreira's tackle is good and puts the ball out for a corner

45

Wright-Phillips' control lets him down and the ball rolls out of play

43

Approaching half time and Arsenal have had slightly the better of a really tight game

40

Eboue's shot is wildly over the bar

39
Substitution
 

A real blow for Chelsea as Terry does go off and Tal Ben Haim replaces him

38

Terry comes back on but is still in trouble and looks like he will have to be substituted

37

Tomas Rosicky works a bit of space but his shot is just wide

36

Terry needs treatment after the tackle from Eboue and he goes off temporarily - it looks like he'll be OK though

35
Yellow Card
 

Eboue catches Terry and the Chelsea man goes down and that's a booking for Eboue as well

32

Shevchenko's strike is parried out by Almunia, it looked like the Arsenal keeper could have caught it though

30

Fabregas' free-kick is off-target though and drifts over

29
Yellow Card
 

Lampard follows Terry into the book in the melee after the free-kick was awarded

29
Yellow Card
 

John Terry is booked for confronting Cesc Fabregas after the Arsenal star is fouled

28

It's been a fiery half so far with Ashley Cole, back on Arsenal soil for the first time since leaving for Chelsea, heavily involved

27

Lampard's free-kick is an awful mis-kick and drifts wide by some margin

26

Joe Cole is brought down on the edge of the box by Eboue now, loads of free-kicks in the first half here

24

Paulo Ferreira gives away a free-kick but Toure's shot is blocked by the wall, Chelsea then break but Joe Cole is offside

22
Yellow Card
 

Adebayor raises his foot high in a challenge on Ashley Cole and is booked

21

Toure has to put the ball out of play with Shevchenko lurking

20

Ashley Cole appears to have picked up a knock and seems to be limping

19

Ashley Cole's cross is well delivered but Arsenal defend well

17

It's been tight with few early chances but Arsenal are playing the better football at the moment

14

Chelsea defend it well again and then break with Shaun Wright-Phillips firing an effort straight at Manuel Almunia

12

Alex heads the ball past his own keeper Petr Cech but luckily for him it goes just over the bar for another Arsenal corner

11

Alex gets a challenge in on Emmanuel Adebayor but the Arsenal striker still gets his shot in, it rises over the bar though

9

From the free-kick, Lampard turns Mathieu Flamini's cross behind for a corner but Chelsea eventually clear it

8

It's been predictably frantic early on as Frank Lampard fouls Emmanuel Eboue

5

Joe Cole puts the ball out of play so Bacary Sagna can receive treatment following an accidental collision with Ashley Cole

4

A fairly scrappy start to the game as Ashley Cole wins a free-kick and complains to the referee

2

Ashley Cole is predictably getting booed by the Arsenal fans on his return to his former club

Kickoff
 

The second of today's two huge Premier League games gets underway at the Emirates, Chelsea kicking off

Awaiting Kickoff
 

Arsenal have midfield trio Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Alex Hleb back in their side while Andriy Shevchenko starts up front for Chelsea