Match Review: Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea

Today, many gooners and Chelski 'fans' witnessed arguably the best game played at The Millenium Stadium. Yes, it ended in defeat but we can be proud of the fantastic spirit of our rising stars, besides the outfield players had an average age of 21! It was a game that had pretty much everything: injuries, red cards, bust-ups and some cracking goals.

The game started well, The Gunners looked comfortable, passing the ball around well, making Chelsea do all the work. The first shot was a Cesc Fabregas effort which was easily saved by Petr Cech. Then, Julio Baptista's stinging shot was well saved by the Czech international as he tipped it round the post. A goal was coming. You could sense it. And after 12 minutes, there was a moment for all gooners to cheer. Theo Walcott picked up a loose ball from a cleared corner, before playing a neat pass to Abou Diaby. The Frenchman then returned the favour, by shrugging off a defender and slipping an exquisite ball through for Walcott to curl past Cech. It was the 17 year-old's first goal for Arsenal, and boy, what a time to score it! Then a few minutes later, Walcott raced down the wing, skipping past Bridge in the process, before cutting it back for Baptista. The Brazilian was brought down in the box by Diarra, but the ref waved away the protests. In all honesty, there wasn't much in it. That was followed by another controversial decision. The in-form Didier Drogba latched onto a through ball, before cooly slotting past Manuel Almunia. But the replays showed that the Ivorian striker was possibly offside. Another tough call but again it was six of one, and half a dozen of another. Chelsea were looking promising. Diarra and Essien were constantly attacking down the right, trying to take advantage of Arsenal left-back, Armand Traore's inexperience. But the young Frenchman coped brilliantly and even started some attcks of his own. Kolo Toure was preventing all attacks from the men in Blue, it was a fantastic, open game.

The second half started brightly too, with Denilson and Diaby bossing the midfield, life was hard for Chelsea. Cesc Fabregas saw his shot, from an acute angle, flash inches past the keeper's post. But then the game turned ugly. The ball was thrown into the Arsenal box and Chelsea skipper, John Terry was ready to nod the ball home. But a super challenge from the star of the show, Diaby prevented the England captain a goal. However, Diaby's boot had caught Terry in the process. The inspirational Chelsea centre back was left unconcious and the unfortunate guilt of Diaby was there for all to see. The Frenchman's foot was high and he had accidently kicked Terry in the face after making the challenge. A touching shot of the distraught Gunners midfielder summed up the sportsmanship in the Arsenal camp. Even Arsenal physio, Gary Lewin was on hand to help the flattened, Terry. So any abuse against Diaby would be extremely unfair as it was clearly an unfortunate accident. Thankfully, the Chelsea defender is now conscious and in good shape.

Then Frank Lampard's 30 yard screamer rattled the crossbar and from then on, Chelsea were dominating. And their patience paid off. Substitue Arjen Robben's cross was sublime and Drogba leaped brilliantly to thump a powerful header past Almunia. This was immediatly followed by Andriy Shevchenko hitting the bar, when the Ukranian probably should have scored. With seven minutes of added time, there was time for a bust-up. Jon Obi Mikel tugged Toure's shirt and war broke out. The ref brandished three red cards, with Toure Mikel and Adebayor all being dismissed. So a bitter end to a great Arsenal performance. But we'll get em next time!

Match Ratings:

Almunia: Could have done better for the first goal but made no clear mistakes. Solid (6)
Hoyte: Fairly quiet down the right. Looked a bit off the pace (5)
Toure: Unlike him to react like he did. Overshadowed another excellent display (7)
Senderos: Solid at the back. Although he scored two goals, he kept Drogba at bay (7)
Traore: Gets better and better. But couldn't cope with Robben (7)
Walcott: So glad he scored. Silenced the doubters with a sublime display (8)
Denilson: It's astonishing the way he has settled in. You'd think he was 28 (7)
Fabregas: Maybe he's burning out? A very average display from the top dog (6)
Diaby: Sensational. Here, there and everywhere. And you could see how upset he was when JT got injured (9) MAN OF THE MATCH
Aliadiere: Didn't see much of the ball but worked very hard for the team (6)
Baptista: Quiet but did well. Could have won a penalty and was only denied a goal by Cech (6)

Eboue: Not enough time (5)
Hleb: Not enough time (5)
Adebayor: I don't know what happened but he must have done something stupid (3)