WENGER IN NEW PENALTY ROW
Bellerin’s late strike saves the day after Wilshere breaks his long goal drought
ARSENE WENGER was fuming over another controversial penalty against Arsenal last night in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea. Wenger is already facing an FA charge over his remarks to the officials after Mike Dean handed West Brom a hotly disputed spotkick to equalise on Sunday at the Hawthorns. This time he was angry at ref Anthony Taylor, later calling it a ‘farcical decision’.
HE DOESN’T score enough goals, Jack Wilshere. And when he finally does get one, Arsenal hang on to the lead for four minutes. Sigh.
It was May 24, 2015, when Wilshere last scored in the Premier League. He got the third in a 4-1 home win over West Bromwich, on the final day of the season. This, most certainly, should have been bigger. The opener against Chelsea as Arsenal scrapped to stay in contention for the Champions League places next season.
He has been in lovely form since finally getting his chance this season, but the goals do not come. Just one, in a 6-0 Europa League victory over BATE Borisov. Not what one might call crucial.
This should have been different. And at least Arsenal salvaged a point at the last. But it was too close for comfort. Wilshere put them on their way with a cracker, but they could not hold on to it. Indeed, Marcos Alonso looked to have won the game with seven minutes remaining. Only an injurytime equaliser from Hector Bellerin shared the points. It could have gone either way, really.
Chelsea’s second was simplicity itself. Davide Zappacosta had been brought on to offer fresh legs against the inexperienced Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and he turned the young left back inside out before hitting a low cross. Alonso stole in very much in the manner of Frank Lampard. What an incredible scoring asset he is from full back.
It was a pity for Wilshere, though, settling for a draw when his finish ended close to a three-year goalscoring drought. Mesut Ozil cut the ball back, Rob Holding vied with Alvaro Morata, who got a fateful touch, Wilshere collected the scraps and outstripping none other than N’Golo Kante, defeated Thibaut Courtois with a powerful, first-time shot. It would have capped an excellent spell in the first team for the prodigal son. Instead, Arsenal gave the lead away at the first opportunity, and nearly three points.
Chelsea tried to force their way back into the game and induced panic. Bellerin had no need to make the challenge on Eden Hazard, clipping the bottom of his foot as they jostled for the ball in the area. The home fans cried dive, but it was a foul. Hazard stepped up and, cool as you like, brought Chelsea back into the game.
Bellerin got to make amends with his equaliser after Danny Welbeck won an important header. It was a great game, but does neither team many favours.
Wenger has faced Chelsea more than any other club, with this being his 60th meeting. It hasn’t always been the happiest fixture either, just 22 wins going into this match — but Chelsea are a different proposition now.
Previously, certainly for the last decade or so, Chelsea had horrible, bullying centre forwards: Didier Drogba, Diego Costa. No longer. Morata is strong in the air but without the same belligerence. Going into the game with Calum Chambers and Holding as two of the back three, Arsenal might once have been battered into submission. Instead, in the first-half, Morata let them spectacularly off the hook.
The game was 14 minutes old when pure naivety presented Chelsea with a gift. A long ball hit in hope from the back was allowed to drop by Chambers, who cannot have seen the position occupied by team-mate Shkodran Mustafi. Either he didn’t see him, and presumed Morata was offside, or he saw Mustafi and presumed he was dealing with the loose ball.
So he stopped and let it roll, and Morata ran on, somewhat surprised, and now with only Petr Cech to beat. Drogba, Costa, any number of Chelsea forwards would have been heavily backed to take it. Morata flopped, embarrassingly so, missing at the far post.
It reminded one of little more than the torrid time experienced by Fernando Torres after his £50m move from Liverpool.
Morata struggled from that point. A minute later, Victor Moses whipped in a cross at the near post which needed a touch and got nothing, Morata failing to make contact at all. His game did not recover for the remainder of the first half, even his support play became sloppy and imprecise. What Chelsea did in the half-hour before half-time, they did for themselves.
During that spell, there were three good chances for Antonio Conte’s team in what was a very open game. The best came after 27 minutes when Cesc Fabregas fed Tiemoue Bakayoko, whose shot was palmed over the bar by Cech, strong hands as ever.
Ten minutes later, Granit Xhaka committed a foolish and clumsy foul on the edge of the area, from a position almost too close to goal to be helpful. Alonso took the freekick but could not get it up and down in the required space and the ball travelled harmlessly over the bar.
From the last attack of the half, a backheel from Eden Hazard after another dangerous run was met by Fabregas, but his shot was hurried and went over.
One would think, with five good goalscoring chances, Chelsea had the best of the first half. Not at all. Arsenal were equally ambitious and had the best opportunity of all. It came in the 16th minute, a shot from Alexis Sanchez tipped on to Thibaut Courtois’ right post, before rebounding across the goalline to hit the left post, and return to the goalkeeper’s grateful hands.
Earlier, a Sanchez free-kick from 25 yards had clipped Gary Cahill to deflect narrowly over the bar.
Mesut Ozil also came close with a free-kick after 38 minutes.
Mirroring Chelsea’s misfortune, however, Arsenal’s most wasteful forward was striker Alexandre Lacazette. In half an hour, either side of half-time, he had two excellent chances.
The first came from an Ozil pass after 22 minutes, a shot on the turn producing an excellent one-handed save from Courtois. After that, an error by Cahill left him one-on-one with Courtois, only for Chelsea’s goalkeeper to smother his shot.
At the opposite end, Cech was putting in a similar shift, first saving from Hazard with his feet, then recovering after Bakayoko recycled the loose ball to tip Alonso’s header around the post.
The Christmas fixture programme may have taken its toll, but this was an excellent game, fast and furious in a way that belied the tired legs. Only Wilshere’s late tackle on Fabregas looked to be the result of dwindling energy levels, earning a deserved booking.
Fabregas was booked for what appeared to be a tit-for-tat challenge, but replays showed him to have won the ball completely cleanly.