GUNNERS SILENCE DERBY WIN GIVES
MIKEL ARTETA was in a jubilant mood last night as he celebrated a year in the Arsenal hotseat with a priceless victory. Fortunately for the underpressure Spanish boss, his struggling outfit showed real defiance and resilience while sending Chelsea crashing to a third defeat in four games.
Strikes from Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka either side of the interval, along with Alexandre Lacazette’s early penalty, produced a Boxing Day shock at the Emirates.this was onlyarsenal’s second victory in 11 league outings – and may well have spared their rookie manager the festive sack.
Arteta, 365 days into the job, could not have wished for a better present, with his previously underachieving bunch proving they were still fighting for him.
The Emirates supremo, without trio Willian, David Luiz and Gabriel, said: “I sensed on the coach to the game everybody was brighter and how much they wanted to win.
“There is nothing better than a Boxing Day London derby – to put in such a good performance made it very special – for the players and our fans.
“Everyone was outstanding.we had a good mix of experience and youth today and we have shown we can compete at this level.we needed the result and the points.” Opposite number Frank Lampard could scarcely believe how poor his team were as they blew the opportunity to go second in table.
The Stamford Bridge manager said: “Not good enough.when you attack a game like we did, you deserve nothing. I don’t know why we were off the pace.that’s one for the players. If you play at 60 to 70 per cent, you don’t win any game.
“I’m angry.we were playing a team having a hard time but we were lazy, giving away the penalty and the free-kick.”
With so much at stake for his own future, facing Chelsea seemed a nightmare fixture for Arteta – even if Arsenal had beaten them in last term’s FA Cup final.what a twist in fortunes since then.
You had to rewind to early November to find the last time the Gunners had won any domestic game. And to think their 1-0 win at Man United promised so much. Certainly nobody envisaged the Gunners would be nosediving down the table.
Chelsea, of course, were only interested in events at the top of the table.
With Leicester and Man Utd drawing at lunchtime, this was to enhance their title credentials.
Fresh from thumping West Ham six days earlier, Lampard’s men had seemingly put their mini blip behind them. Or so we thought.
For it was Arteta’s men who made the brighter start here when Brazilian striker Gabriel Martinelli could have fired them ahead inside 60 seconds. If Mason Mount’s free-kick 10 minutes later had not clipped the post, it might have been a different outcome. Instead, though,arsenal kept pressing – and were rewarded with a penalty after Reece James was judged to have tripped Kieran Tierney.
Replays indicated it was soft at best yet VAR decided otherwise and Lacazette positively rifled in his fifth goal this season. Crucially, Arsenal then doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time after N’golo Kante checked Saka’s fine run.
If that was much clearer than Reece’s foul, Xhaka’s free-kick was every bit as deadly as Lacazette’s penalty – his shot rocketed in from 25 yards. Blues keeper Edoard Mendy stood no chance and it was the same on 56 minutes as Saka put the Gunners out of sight.
What a bizarre goal it was by the England youngster as he looked up and clipped an angled effort in off the post. It was probably a cross but Arteta didn’t care.
Tammy Abraham’s late effort reduced the arrears and sparked a Chelsea rally, which almost became a tense finale when Pablo Mari brought down Mount but Bernd Leno saved Jorginho’s penalty.