Both London sides picked up three points on Saturday, but Arsenal’s performance demonstrated many of the same flaws as in previous matches, whilst Chelsea and Torres seem to have turned a corner.
Clearly the most important thing for Arsenal and Chelsea this weekend was that they both won, with relatively friendly fixtures against other out of form sides giving them a chance to stop the rot. However looking at the two victories, Chelsea will be far happier with their day’s work, with the 3-1 win at the Stadium of Light coming on the back on an improvement in key areas.
This win came on the heels of the 6-1 victory over Nordsjaelland on Wednesday. The common theme in each match was a Fernando Torres brace, and this in particular will cheer Chelsea fans. Whilst the Spaniard was still slightly sloppy against the Danish side, he took his goals in emphatic fashion at the weekend, even stepping up to take his first penalty in England, demonstrating a confidence that wasn’t present even a week ago.
Along with Torres there were excellent performances from Mata and Ramires, and Cahill and Luiz looked more solid playing together than perhaps at any other point this season. Chelsea still have problems, and the animosity toward Rafa Benitez won’t fade on the back of one performance, but the improvement in both their defensive displays and Fernando Torres is largely down to the more direct system Benitez has installed.
Arsenal’s win eventually came from two penalties, both of which may not have been given on another day. Their performance was solid, but they looked uninspired in the final third, and given the wastefulness of their shooting from open play, they may not have broken the deadlock at all without the referee. These are the same problems that have dogged the side all season, and this performance has done nothing to address them.
They still have injury problems, and you would expect that they will look more dangerous when Walcott returns (unless he then leaves in January), but their squad is peppered with players that haven’t been good enough, especially in attacking areas. They have a friendly run of fixtures over the Christmas period, but if they can’t find the back of the net they won’t be able to capitalise on this.
It was only one Saturday, and both teams could be completely different next weekend, but Chelsea’s win came as a result of improving their weak areas, whilst Arsenal continue to look unconvincing despite their victory.
Benitez seems to be successfully addressing the problems his side have had and as such you can reasonably expect Chelsea to repeat this victory, whereas Arsenal are unlikely to be getting two penalties again any time soon.
images: © Ronnie Macdonald
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