Arsenal will be infuriated after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, in a game masked with controversy that went against the Gunners.
It all kicked-off late in the first-half as Gabriel Paulista reacted to Diego Costa’s antics to earn a red-card, moments after the Spaniard somehow escaped a dismissal. The Blues made their advantage count with a Kurt Zouma header, before Santi Cazorla earned a second-yellow and Calum Chambers deflected an Eden Hazard shot into his own net.
Arsenal started the game well as they dominated possession in the opening exchanges, with Theo Walcott looking lively, whilst Chelsea soaked the pressure and seemed set to operate on the counter-attack.
Chances were proving to be at a premium though, with Alexis Sanchez dragging a wayward effort wide before Petr Cech was called into routine action at the other end to deny Diego Costa. The Blues were now enjoying the bulk of possession, in a decent spell for the hosts.
Arsenal’s first real chance came shortly before the 30-minute mark, as Mesut Ozil slipped through a nicely weighted pass to Walcott but his controlled finish was comfortably saved by Asmir Begovic. Chelsea then got the best chance of the match when Cesc Fabregas lofted a ball over to Pedro, who couldn’t finish, before Eden Hazard appealed for a penalty under challenge from Gabriel Paulista.
Before the break it all kicked-off as Diego Costa somehow escaped a red-card for a swing on Laurent Koscielny, with the square up that ensued resulting in the forward and Gabriel earning a yellow card. Costa’s dodgy antics continued, which Gabriel reacted to and earned his dismissal for a kick-out.
Francis Coquelin made way for Calum Chambers to plug the whole in defence, with the Gunners now having a mountain to climb to get back into the game.
Early in the second-half Pedro volleyed wide of the mark, as Chelsea put the foot to the gas immediately. The hosts then took the lead as Fabregas curled a perfect delivery to the head of Kurt Zouma, who headed past Cech at the near post.
Alexis Sanchez then had a decent chance to equalise when a long-ball forward caused confusion in the Chelsea defence but the Chilean couldn’t provide the required touch, before Walcott curled a wayward shot wide.
A double-change reshuffled the offensive line for the final 15 minutes of the game, as Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were introduced in place of Ozil and Sanchez. However, Cazorla swiftly earned his second-yellow to reduce the visitors to nine-men.
Chelsea sealed the victory late-on as Eden Hazard’s shot deflected off Calum Chambers to give the hosts a two-goal cushion, with a game that will leave a bitter taste in Arsenal’s mouth.
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