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MOTD- Arsenal 0-0 Chelsea

By on December 23, 2013

20131223-203804.jpgIt was certainly not a day to be a spectator at the Emirates.  Apart from a blistering end that nearly always accompanies 0-0 draws it was a dreary night in the pouring rain as Chelsea visited Arsenal.  The fact that there were only five shots on target in the entire ninety minutes sums up the encounter, yet tactically the result will massively effect both sides.  As Jose Mourinho proved his side will be able to scrape out results in tight wins by playing the defensive football he became known for in his first term in charge of the Londoners, while at the same time providing Arsenal with a massive blow to morale.  Having been top of the table for three months to fall just short of the top spot at Christmas will be a sucker punch for The Gunner’s manager Arsene Wenger, yet the French manager seemed happy with the result which rightfully proves of his belief that his side can win the title.

The result wasn’t unsatisfactory for Arsenal, but the way Chelsea bossed most of the match should be a worry.  Yet with all of the possession and dominance Chelsea struggled to find many chances. Ramires headed Willian’s cross from the right over the bar in the twenty-seventh minute, but besides from that the opening half hour was extremely (and when we say extremely, we mean extremely) dull.  But things soon began to liven up.  Frank Lampard came within inches of scoring the opener in the thirty-first minute when he fed the ball to Eden Hazard twenty yards out from goal while continuing his run down the right side of the box.  Hazard chipped a lovely return ball over the Arsenal defense finding Lampard, who blasted an all too perfect side-footed volley onto the crossbar which made for a huge sigh of relief for Wenger.

Ramires’ weak effort was then stopped by Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, but Chelsea were lucky not to be reduced to ten men moments later as John Obi Mikel went in for a studs up, high challenge on Mikel Arteta who was lucky to escape without injury while Mikel was somehow not even guilty of a foul, according to referee Mike Dean.  Willian saw his low shot from the edge of the box blocked by Szczesny in the forty-third minute, but the momentum in the match started to peter out.  Even half-time couldn’t put some energy back into the attacking momentum of both sides, but when the hour mark appeared on the clock things began to get spiced up.

Lampard’s low twenty-five yard drive was saved by Szczesny in the sixty-sixth minute before Branislav Ivanovic’s high boot on Mesut Ozil brought some intensity into the game.  Even Arsenal came alive despite Mourinho’s defensive efforts, and really should have been up in the seventy-eighth minute when Aaron Ramsey dinked a stunning ball over the Chelsea defense to the run of Giroud down the left side of the box.  The Frenchman was completely unmarked yet got his footing wrong and ended up slicing a first-time volley into the side-netting from seven yards.  An even better chance fell for the forward seven minutes later as Tomas Rosicky slipped a neat pass into the run of Kieran Gibbs down the left side of the box and the full-back cut it back across goal where Giroud sprinted in to tap in in from two yards.  Yet Petr Cech was there to meet him and somehow got his body in the way to tip the tap-in over the bar.  Mourinho then brought off Fernando Torres for the more defensive option of David Luiz to settle the game down, which worked with great effect and after three minutes of added time Dean blew the full time whistle as the boring match finished with perhaps the dullest scoreline possible, 0-0.
Man of the Match: Frank Lampard

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.