Chelsea are the biggest club in London, we know this because their garden gnome has told us so. Well their fans may well have the biggest mouths, their club does without doubt have the chairman with biggest ego who talks the biggest load of old cobblers and they certainly have the biggest debts. £94 million and counting if the financial pages are to be believed. They may well have, for all I know, the biggest number of unsold executive boxes in the country, I counted 16 out of 32 last season that were empty. One thing is
indisputable, they have the biggest contempt anywhere in the Premiership for away fans and by far the most ridiculous prices ever paid by visitors to sit in what is, when all is said and done, little more than a hovel. Last season the away section was tastelessly decorated with unpainted breeze blocks and offered toilets that were totally inadequate.
Rant over.
Arsenal today without the services of Henry, due to a bruised toe in training, Bergkamp, Pires, Ljungberg and van Bronckhorst started with Kanu and Wiltord up front and both our Brazilian midfielders. We faced a Chelsea side who appeared to have been attempting to offload their players on the sly, Hasselbaink was on the bench. No Dixon v Le Saux battle today, no Wise v Vieira, Keown was still ready for Jimmy when he entered the fray but as
it happened there were no running battles at the Bridge today. That didn't stop the pathetic Andy D'Urso from being his usual over zealous trigger-happy self. His lunatic card flashing was matched only by his total inconsistency. Had he been consistent he should have booked about 14 players, had he been sensible he would have booked about four. Needless to say he was neither.
So it was 'The Champions' v the over-priced over-rated wannabes. The opening ten minutes were scrappy. Campbell bossed Gudjohnsen with an early show of strength. We had a good move down the right before Lauren crossed behind Parlour. Lampard got the first yellow for a tackle on Pat with no attempt to play the ball. From then on the card was rarely found in D'Urso's pocket. A Lauren mistake forced Martin into action but we weren't being threatened.
A Wiltord/Vieira one-two nearly put Pat through as Sylvain did all the running up front with Kanu tucked in the hole. Le Saux showed Ray his studs and was carded for his trouble. Chelsea's only early threat was a long-range header by Gronkjaer who was by far their biggest danger. Cudicini came out well to clear. Zola needed to track back as Arsenal went into passing mode and started to run the game. Great run by Kanu but Sylvain was caught offside, it wouldn't be the last raised flag either. Arsenal started to flow, with great crosses in from both left and right. Parlour whips in a fine cross then shoots wide from a
quickly taken Lauren free kick.
Arsene can be seen in shirtsleeves and tie as Seaman plucks the ball out of the air following a free kick. Kanu offside before Zenden misses a chance when Lauren and Keown are out fast to close on him. An under hit back pass by Keown sees Seaman quickly out to clear. Toure replaced the injured Edu and made a lively start. Kanu called for a handball following a Wiltord shot but it wasn't clear-cut. Then the game turned. A debatable foul by Vieira saw him get a harsh yellow. Worse still Zola scored a freaky goal from the free kick. He lofted a ball in, Arsenal's defenders were too deep but it cleared both them and
the Chelsea forward's heads as Dave anticipated a flicked header. The ball bounced in front of him and into the net. A defensive error, if anything, for not pushing them further out.
So then Chelsea had 11 minutes before half-time where they were actually on top. A great block by Pat. D'Urso pulled back play when we had an advantage on our left, typical! Seaman needed to head clear from outside our area prior to Wiltord being blocked on a fast break by De Lucas. It resulted in another yellow card for D'Urso's collection. Kanu almost found Parlour. Ashley put Dave under pressure, then Cole is at it with Zola shortly after. Campbell swots Zola on a run but they leave the pitch good friends at half time. Wiltord looked lonely up front, especially when Kanu left the field for treatment just before the break.
The second half started and Wiltord ran into yet another offside position so Kanu had to continue his solo run. This was before Vieira got his marching orders. Gronkjaer had managed to kick the underside of Pat's boot as Vieira challenged, then he went down like a sack of spuds. It was an action replay of Cole and Cisse the other week. Pat got a second yellow, described by even O'Leary in the studio as very harsh. I would describe it as a ****ing joke. After this incident 'the boys done good' as the saying goes. Ten man Arsenal looked the better side from here on in. Granted Gronkjaer caused serious problems down our left flank but we played some fine stuff, retaining possession well and offering far more serious threats than the hapless blues.
Gronkjaer and Wiltord earned a couple of yellows for some light action with handbags. Toure was caught offside, he was very direct and enjoyed running at players. Kanu won a corner, which Wiltord took. Then we got our deserved equaliser. Toure on a run gave it to Cole who found Wiltord at the far post, Sylvain went for goal while Kolo continued his run. Our bubbly Ivory Coast International flung himself in at close range to head home his first goal. 1-1 closely followed by the inevitable chant of 'We've only got ten men'. So
our goal scoring and unbeaten runs continued.
Parlour won a corner as we swept forward down the right. Arsenal were well on top, the statistics showing an amazing 62% possession for the second half at this point. We continued to go for it but Gronkjaer continued to cause Ashley serious problems. Melchiot on for Le Saux and Ferrer moved across to the left back slot. Gudjohnsen was caught offside before Hasselbaink replaced Zola. Chelsea had to shoot from long range, being unable to break us down. De Lucas had one such shot that he aimed at the roof. Kanu, now in midfield hacked Melchiot. Gudjohnsen tried an ambitious lob from the sort of position
Kanu bagged his famous hatrick from, but it came to nothing.
Satanic, the well known spelling error, replaced Zenden who'd had a quiet game. Mind you most players in blue had quiet games. Hasselbaink was as anonymous as he was in Cardiff.
An ambitious shot from Toure, Wiltord offside again, we were still going for it! Chelsea did have a bit of a spell but nothing really threatening. Stanic hacked Ray and by previous decisions it would have been yellow but D'Urso is forever inconsistent, not to mention crap. Another fine flowing Gunners move saw Ray needing to beat the last man but he looked knackered. Campbell in very hard on Gudjohnsen, tasty! Wiltord was obstructed badly but got nothing given. Cole made another break down our left. We were still breaking fast and looking the most likely team to score. Melchiot joined the yellow card club after trampling on the back of Kanu's legs. Kolo Toure, who is going to be a crowd favourite
despite his strange looking flat-top ears, fired the free kick just over from a fair way out.
Pascal Cygan replaced Kanu to prop up our left-side midfield and Kolo went more central before setting off on another run. Cole stopped Hasselbaink by conceding a corner. Seaman saved wit ease from a Stanic header. A tired Wiltord hacked Gallas but there was no yellow from Mr inconsistent. Cygan did well breaking up an attack. Ray was stunned to win the ball and concede a free kick. Why I have no idea, neither did Ray. Three minutes added time runs to something over four as Arsene replaces the hardworking Wiltord with Aliadiere.
Sol made a great headed clearance following some far-too-late pressure from Chelsea. Cygan chopped Melchiot and there's was more pressure looming as Chelsea pumped it in. Lampard had a crap shot, the only thing I recall him doing all game. Melchiot had a shot blocked for a corner that Dave took with ease. Final whistle and the ten men rightly congratulate each other, having shown great team spirit yet again.
Shame it wasn't three points because Chelsea were two-bob. Our team is class and consistent while theirs is up one minute down the next. Our stars play as a team while theirs flatters to deceive. Our manager is a multi-lingual legend; theirs is a nice enough bloke, but still another Bates sacking waiting to happen. How would their fans ever cope if they had to learn more than two songs? Will they ever figure that blue is not the colour and no one cares how many chauvinist pigs went to laugh at Chelsea. They've only ever won the league once, with an ex-Arsenal man in charge as it happens, and that was way
back in 1955. Biggest London club my arse!
Brian - One Life, one game, one team - three doubles.
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