Walcott added to Arsenal’s advantage two minutes later as he finished a sublime move for the home side to further dent any chance of the Blues trying to bounce back from Sanchez opener.
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Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were also on the scoresheet in a stunning first half at the Emirates Stadium.
Theo Walcott felt Arsenal’s experience was key to a dominant 3-0 win over Chelsea but he was unwilling to herald it as a watershed moment for Arsene Wenger’s side. It is the first loss for Chelsea against its rivals since October 2011.
“Last season was a bad season and last season we were a great team on the paper”. To get that out of the system was at stake as well today.
Conte wants his men to keep in mind their disastrous last season and not repeat the mistakes which led to their downfall.
“I think what was important for me was the psychological hurdle standing in our way”.
“I must find the right solution for this team because in every game we are conceding two goals, at minimum”, he said. “We played with spirit and collective pace and movement”.
“So I hope he is not out as long as previous year”. “Today we had a good performance”, said Wenger.
It helped Chelsea stop the rot, but they never threatened to force their way back into the game and Courtois had to spread himself at his near post to prevent Walcott netting a second goal.
From the goalkeeper to the centre forward, today you can not fault any performance. There’s still room for improvement.
What was very important for me was that the psychological hurdle didn’t stand in our way.
Chelsea played nearly the entire 2nd half with this new formation and did not concede a goal. When we play this type of game, against a team who are very good like Arsenal, you must concentrate from the first minute.
The most impressive performance of the day came from Arsenal, which marked the 20th anniversary of Arsene Wenger’s appointment by beating Chelsea.
“Two defeats in two big games”.
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“Everyone is focused and you could see that – 11 men who wanted to win this more than the other team”. Wenger’s only real opportunity to respond therefore seems to have been by having a quiet word off the pitch with Alexis, in that he shouldn’t go against the team’s original tactics and plans, in which Cazorla is likely to have been listed as the team’s number one penalty taker. We know how hard it is to play a team with a different shape to yours.
