Arsenal were in control of that first half against a flat Chelsea side and Wenger was impressed by what his team offered at the Emirates.
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“Manchester City started the season very well”, the Italian said. After this game, this defeat, it’s normal for me not to sleep.
It was Arsenal’s first league goal against Chelsea in seven games and within three minutes they had another.
Wenger’s men have now won their last four in the league and are unbeaten in all competitions since the opening weekend of the season as he looks to usher in his 21st year in style.
Unsurprisingly, this is unacceptable for Conte who has built a reputation during spells with Juventus and Italy for building defensively solid teams who always make it hard for opponents to break them down. “Because I think we lose and we win as a team”. Arsenal have experienced much worse in recent years when playing at the same level as Chelsea did, but that is no consolation for Conte.
Gary Cahill’s dithering didn’t help.
Heads dropped as soon as the first goal was conceded in the 11th minute and there were no individuals capable of either inspiring or simply demanding an improvement from their team-mates.
Once again, Chelsea’s defense was ripped apart easily with a slick passing move the visitors could find no way of disrupting.
Three minutes later, Arsenal were 2-0 up as Hector Bellerin found himself in space on the right and picked out Theo Walcott who blasted home from close range.
The only surprise was Chelsea’s rearguard lasted until the 40th without crumbling again. A sublime turn saw Ozil leave N’Golo Kante for dead in an advanced position up the pitch, with the German playmaker going on to apply the finishing touch once he had got the ball back from Sanchez inside the Chelsea area. With the central defensive duo of Cahill and David Luiz posing little resistance, Sanchez crossed the ball back to Ozil, whose first-time volley bounced beyond Courtois.
“We played with spirit and collective pace and movement”.
He felt Arsenal’s first-half performance was “nearly perfect” but was not about to make much fuss about their special anniversary gift to him.
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Chelsea was humiliated, and couldn’t even manage a shot on target until the 84th from Michy Batshuayi. I think when you want to win you must have a good balance when you attack and when you defend.
