EXCLUSIVE : Arsenal “beat the crap” out of Chelsea: A Unique View.

Almost 24 hours after and I’m still struggling to come to terms with the events of yesterday. Most gooners would have accepted a draw going into the game but the guy who wrote that script had other ideas.

I won’t say I was too surprised when Chelsea drew first blood, I was only pained it had come after we missed two great chances. Lampard capitalized on a Mert4 misjudgment to power a header past Sz13. We had a lot of time to grab our goal and I hoped it would be an equalizer rather than a consolation.

A spell of good possession and Ramsey ripped the Chelski defence to put Gerv through on goal, the winger showed great awareness to pass to Robin who had the simplest of tap-ins. We were back on level terms but it didn’t last.

Just before half-time, Terry got in front of Mert4 to somehow put the ball in the net. A lot of people were quick to blame the big man, but that ball shouldn’t have got that far in the first place. We trailed at half-time and it was really difficult to see how.

Chelsea’s Chief Executive, Bruce Buck was expecting “Chelsea to beat the crap out of Arsenal”. I really do not care what did the magic, whether it was Wenger’s team talk or the thought of Buck saying “I told you so” after the game.

What I know is that the Arsenal that emerged from the dressing room for 2nd half wasn’t the same team that went in at half time, in terms of mentality at least.

We played with much more precision and spirit, and got our equalizer within 5 minutes. Andre Santos latched onto a pass on the left and shot through Cech’s legs to claim his 2nd for the season.
Clichy managed just 2 in how many years again? Santos’ celebration was top notch too [in yer face Ramires!].

We were in the ascendancy, doing the simple things well and keeping the Chelski strikers in check. Walcott, who had been having a great game decided to do something different.
He ran at the Chelsea defence, lost the ball, won it back, beat two defenders with a simple skill and speed, and finished excellently. I went bonkers! The comeback was complete, and the 3 points were within sight.

Trust Arsenal though, the kings of dramatic endings, Mata’s long ranger [after a foul by Lukaku on Santos] leveled the scores and set up an amazing final 10 minutes. I feared the worst and hoped we could hang on for a point.

But the thing is when you are the good guy, you get lucky a few times. “Luck” is Malouda playing a poor backward pass when a forward pass seemed easier. “Luck” is Terry slipping on his backside and letting the ball pass, “Luck” is the ball falling to none other than Van Persie.
The look on the faces of Chelski fans as VP faced Cech is absolutely priceless! He confirmed their fears, rounded Cech and passed into a waiting net.

We were back on top, Chelsea were rocked! They threw everything they had forward but created nothing really. It even cost them as we broke on the counter, got the ball to RVP who rifled a shot past the helpless Cech to grab his hat-trick. 5-3 and we were truly going back home with maximum points. One could see from the celebrations what those points meant to the lads.

It was a pulsating encounter and in recent years, we would normally come out of games like this ruing our luck. This time around, the lads gave their all, kept their focus and were duly rewarded. No need to wax lyrical about RVP, we all know he is going to heaven!

Koscielny was a monster yesterday, and of the 8 defenders that lined up for both sides, he looked like the only one who had a clue what he was doing in the first half. If he keeps developing at this rate, he’ll be unplayable in the not too distant future! Andre Santos had a poor first 45, but a commendable 2nd. I particularly like the way he wins one-on-ones. His goal scoring ability is a breath of fresh air too.

Walcott showed us what good decision making can do to his game, Arteta played with more freedom, Gervinho’s unpredictability and dribbling really helped, Song was colossal and worked his socks off, and Ramsey was superb again.
Our defending still needs to be worked on though. TV5 returning is great news and I expect us to be much better. I’d love to see a back four of Kos-Mert4-TV5-Santos!

After 7 wins in 8 games, I was hesitant to say we had turned the corner probably because 6 of those 7 were at home. With yesterday’s win, I’m pretty confident we have.

Are we back to our best though? As much as the game showed how awesome we can be, it also exposed our faults. We should expect to get punished if we keep missing clear chances and defending atrociously. Gervinho especially needs to work on his finishing, we were not so luck against the Sp*ds!

HUMOR
Below are some of the funniest tweets that went around yesterday after we ran riot at the bridge.

@Denismiriti

@TheNeilParmar

@CrazyGoose

@SmkyRobbs

@FourFourTom

Its Marseille on tuesday at the Emirates, let’s win and seal qualification. Cheers. See you in the comments