Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0
There was a point of this match when, briefly, Arsène Wenger had lurched into full-on Begbie-from-Trainspotting mode and was squaring up to José Mourinho by the side of the pitch, as if someone had spilled his pint one time too many.
Wenger had already shoved his bete noire in the chest and when he went back to prolong the argument the Arsenal manager could be seen pushing his face into Mourinho’s so they were almost nose to nose. Those were the lingering images of a tempestuous derby when, once again, Mourinho came out on top and everyone could see exactly how much he has got under Wenger’s skin.
Mourinho’s superiority over Wenger has stretched now to 12 games unbeaten and the man he branded a “specialist in failure” will be fortunate to escape further action from the English Football Association.
Chelsea have won seven matches during that sequence and, once we had waded through all the different subplots and controversies, the bottom line is the Premier League leaders have re-established a five-point advantage ahead of Manchester City – and nine from Arsenal – courtesy of Eden Hazard’s expertly taken penalty and the latest demonstration of Diego Costa’s penalty-box prowess.
The list is fairly considerable, though, because even ignoring, for one moment, that first-half spat between Wenger and Mourinho, with the older man very much the aggressor, it was a difficult match for the referee, Martin Atkinson, to control and one that left Chelsea facing some awkward questions about their handling of a head injury for their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois.
Courtois had to be taken to hospital with blood coming from his right ear after the club’s medical staff decided he was fit to play on even though the Belgium international had been left flat out, eyes closed, and clearly badly hurt after a collision with Alexis Sánchez. Courtois carried on for 13 minutes before suffering a relapse and Chelsea will have to explain themselves bearing in mind the FA brought in new guidelines for head injuries at the start of the season.
Yet they emerged through the maze of side-issues in a new position of strength and the suspicion remains that Wenger would never get this worked up if it was not for the inferiority complex that tends to engulf his team during these fixtures. Arsenal, to give them their due, had played with far more authority than the 6-0 ordeal on this ground last season and, from manager down, there was far more determination to stand up to their opponents.
They might also believe Gary Cahill could have been sent off for the challenge on Sánchez that persuaded Wenger to stride from his technical area into Chelsea's and then respond to Mourinho's orders for a retreat by putting both hands into his chest to give him a shove and then remind him, close-up, who was the taller, more imposing man.
Wenger's team will also reflect on that moment, at 1-0, when Cesc Fàbregas threw himself at Jack Wilshere's shot and the ball deflected off his hands inside the penalty area. Equally, Laurent Koscielny should have been shown a red card for halting Hazard's brilliant run into the penalty area, when the Belgian would have been running clear on goal. Calum Chambers could feasibly have been sent off for two bookable offences before half-time and Atkinson's leniency went way too far when Danny Welbeck lunged in, two-footed, on Fàbregas.
Both teams will deflect the other's grievances with complaints of their own but ultimately the victory came down to Chelsea's greater penetration and defensive line and a bad day for Wenger's side was compounded by the fact it was Fàbregas playing the ball over their backline for Costa to run clear and lob Wojciech Szczesny in the 78th minute.
That was Costa’s ninth goal for his new club and an offside flag spared too much embarrassment from an inexplicable open-goal miss late on.
(Guardian Service)
