Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea Six Things: Magnificent Mertesacker

Glory for Gunners – bbc.co.uk

After a turbulent campaign, Arsenal won their third FA Cup in four years thanks to a 2-1 victory over Premier League Champions Chelsea. But what have we learnt from the game?

Arsenal’s commanding start

From the first whistle, Arsenal were on the front foot. Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka dominated the central areas, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked bright while Danny Welbeck ran the channels. Alexis Sanchez showed good movement in from the left and scored the fifth minute opener in controversial circumstances. After a moment of consultation the referee overruled his assistant, who blew offside against the Chilean.

Sluggish Chelsea

In the first 18 minutes, Antonio Conte’s side looked unrecognizable from the one that dominated the Premier League. Their pressing was disjointed, causing huge gaps between on paper two of the world’s best combative midfielders, N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic. The impressive Mesut Ozil exploited that gap with great movement in from the right and his one-on-one lob forced a goalline clearance from Gary Cahill, before Welbeck hit the woodwork with his header from a corner.

Steady improvement

The game became more even after that first 18 minutes. Matic got further up the pitch and we saw more from Eden Hazard, who teed up Pedro to fire over. Diego Costa could have been braver to attack a few crosses but he did get ahead of Rob Holding, forcing a firm block from David Ospina. In an end-to-end climax to the half, Arsenal also had their moments on the break, Xhaka’s drive saved by Thibaut Courtois.

The Conte hairdryer

It is reasonable to assume that the passionate Italian coach had words with the Chelsea players at the break. The only time they played with the intensity we have come to expect from them was the first 15 minutes of the second half. They attacked frequently down the right with good combination play between Victor Moses and Pedro, the latter firing wide on 59 minutes. Costa scrapped with centre-backs more and Kante saw his shot deflected at the goalkeeper as Chelsea looked more confident in possession. They were outdone only by some excellent blocks from Nacho Monreal and Per Mertesacker, who was starting his first competitive game in 13 months.

Late drama

Chelsea fans appealed for a penalty on 68 minutes when Moses appeared to have gone down under a challenge. Replays show there was no contact from Chamberlain though, vindicating the referee’s decision to send off the wing-back for diving and a second bookable offence. Chelsea’s 10-men levelled when Costa’s deflected effort bounced past a suspect Ospina, who had had a good game until that point. Arsenal though got the winner when substitute Olivier Giroud dinked a beautiful cross which was nodded home by Ramsey, as the duo who combined for the Final winner in 2014 repeated the trick.

What it means

After the first 18 minutes, Chelsea had not been as bad as some suggested, considering they played the last 22 with 10-men. However, they did not match the high standards they had set themselves in the Premier League campaign. The Gunners deserved the victory and while this blog still believes the club needs change this summer, that is a debate for another day. Arsenal have won the FA Cup 13 times, more than any club in England. After a difficult campaign, they and their manager deserve their moment in the sun.