Capital Clash: Marcos Alonso The Match-Winner As Chelsea Win Five-Goal Thriller Against Arsenal (Photos & Video)

Alan Duffy

18th, August 2018

2 Comments

Embed from Getty Images

Chelsea and Arsenal played out a thrilling clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Maurizio Sarri winning his battle against fellow Premier League newcomer, Unai Emery, courtesy of a 3-2 victory.

The game saw both defences breached far too easily, with the hosts going 2-0 up within 20 minutes.

Spaniard Pedro opened the scoring on nine minutes, with the winger converting Marcos Alonso’s cross after the Gunners were alarmingly exposed at the back.

On 20 minutes, the hosts doubled their advantage, with Alvaro Morata turning Shkodran Mustafi far too easily before firing past Petr Cech.

However, despite looking characteristically flimsy at the back, Arsenal were a threat up front, frequently getting around the back of the Chelsea backline.

Indeed, just before Morata’s goal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang blasted over from close-range with the goal at his mercy.

Arsenal would score on 37 minutes, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who himself had missed another great chance, arrowed a left-footed shot past new goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Alex Iwobi leveled the scores soon as the north Londoners looked rampant.

In the second-half, Chelsea looked more solid, and they would eventually bag the winner, with Alonso firing home from an Eden Hazard pass to secure all three points in a thrilling derby clash.

The win makes it two defeats out of two for Emery, with the Arsenal defence needing major work, while Granit Xhaka continues to labour in midfield.

Embed from Getty Images

However, Emery’s decisive substitutions (he hauled off Xhaka and the equally ineffectual Ozil) along with Mattéo Guendouzi’s impressive displays hint at a positive future for the Gunners.

Embed from Getty Images

Sarri also has work to do with his defence, although in N’Golo Kanté and sub Eden Hazard, the Italian has two world class players capable of driving the Blues back to the top.

Posted in Arsenal, Chelsea, Photos, Videos

Share this article: Email

2 Comments

  1. SangVieux says:

    Woeful Defending…and a crap performance from Kepa. We’ll be leaning a bit Offensive this year, in more ways than one. Arsenal do not look the team to threaten as they did. Chelsea made them look good for large parts of the match.

  2. Dr. Cajetan Coelho says:

    Marcos is the difference-maker.

Leave a Reply