The London Derby – Arsenal Vs Chelsea
The London rivals will be facing each other off for the fourth time this season when the F.A cup final kicks off at 22:00 IST Saturday, 1 August. You can watch the match at SonyLiv.com. Since the start of the decade, the rivalry between the London clubs has intensified thanks to the massive cash injection from Roman Abrahomich which helped Chelsea usher a new era in the premier league.
Backed by Abrahomich’s bank balance, Jose Mourinho was the first manager to win the English Premier League for Chelsea F.C in 2004. That changed the dynamics of the league which was previously dominated by Manchester United and Arsenal. The Abrahomich’s Chelsea era led the way for foreign investments in other premier league clubs, with Manchester City being the best example of a club revived due to the huge investments from abroad.
The rise of Chelsea coincided with the fall of Arsenal. Having moved to their new stadium in Emirates which cost them around Rs 38,000 Crores, Arsenal could not match Chelsea’s ability to spend money on players. Due to which they could not purchase the top cream of talent available and even lost some of their best players to the rival club.
The injection of such huge cash was criticized by the then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger which led to a bitter rivalry with his counterpart Jose Mourinho which lasted for more than a decade. Since 2000s Chelsea has won the premier league 5 times since 2000 and the rivalry between both the team has given some of the best matches in Premier League history.
As they will lock horns one more time for the F.A Cup Final on August 01, 2020, we have a look into the top 5 matches across all competition.
5. Essien Wonder Goal saves the day for Chelsea (2006- Stamford Bridge)
This was the first match of Ashley Cole after he switched side and was constantly booed by the crowd for every touches taken. Chelsea.
A 78 minutes goal by Flamini threatened to break the 51 matches unbeaten at the home streak of Chelsea.
However, Essien’s 30 yards thunderbolt saved the day for the Blues. He was teed up by the current manager Frank Lampard and the Ghanaian hit a glorious, swerving, outside-of-the-boot strike past Jens Lehmann. It is now ranked as one of the best goals scored in the EPL.
4. Blues Edge Out Gunners in the Fiesty Final of 2007
The tense and fiery league cup final was played in Cardiff. The exciting and at times bad-tempered match was stretched to extra time of 13 minutes. Chelsea emerged victorious thanks to a brace from the legendary Didier Drogba.
Chelsea went in as favorites with Jose Mourinho having an unbeaten run against the Gunners till that point of time. Arsenal had a team of promising youngsters (Walcott, Fabregas, Diaby) with 21 being the average age of their squad. They were praised for their slick playing style as they beat Liverpool and Tottenham on their road to the finale.
Theo Walcott gave Gunners the early goal and for the most of the match, Chelsea was blown away by the fast passing game of Arsenal players in the first half of the match. However, Didier Drogba canceled out the opener and went on to score the winner in the 84th minute.
John Terry was stretchered off unconscious after being struck in the head by the boots of Diaby. However, the match will be remembered by both sets of fans for the stoppage-time fracas which resulted in 3 Red cards (Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Adebayor and John Obi Mikel) for violent conduct and 2 Yellow cards (Frank Lampard and Cesc Fàbregas) for unsporting behavior.
3. Van Persie Hat-trick in an 8 goal thriller
A premier league goal-fest, Arsenal stunned Stamford bridge by winning 5-3 in this 2011 encounter. Going into the match, Arsenal was recovering from a poor start to the season and Chelsea was having an average season under the newly appointed manager Andre Villas-Boas.
Chelsea took an early lead through Lampard’s header but it was canceled out by a Van Persie a few moments later. John Terry gave Chelsea the lead again with his half time strike but Santos equalized early into the second half. Theo Walcott gave Arsenal the lead for the first time in the match 5 minutes after Santos equalizer.
The Blue fans thought that Chelsea have saved the match when Juan Mata scored a 25 yards goal in the 80th minute. But two late goals by Van Persie sealed this thrilling encounter in favor of the Gunners. The talismanic striker went on to score 35 premier goals for that season.
2. Wenger’s 1000th Game Ruined in 2014
This 6-0 defeat came in Wenger’s 1000th match as Arsenal manager. This sits as one of the worst performances in the Wenger era alongside the 8-2 drubbing in the hand of Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Samuel Eto’o and Andre Schurrle scored twice in the first 7 minutes. The penalty by Eden Hazard finished the match as a contest. Brazilian Oscar scored two and one late goal from Mohammed Salah made it 6-0 which was Jose Mourinho’s biggest Premier League victory as Chelsea manager
Gunner fans demand for Wenger’s sacking increased manifold after this match and it was clear that his time at Arsenal had come to an end.
1. Arsenal clinch the F.A cup 2017
The lively encounter resulted in the last trophy won by Arsene Wenger as an Arsenal manager. Arsenal were coming in the back of another disappointing season to meet Antonio Conte’s Chelsea which was regarded as one of the most resolute teams in the league.
Sanchez scored the opener as the Chelsea player were appealing for offside. The goal was disallowed by the linesman as offside but referee Anthony Taylor overruled his assistant after a 30-second deliberation. Arsenal kept on continuing their attack as Chelsea lived on dangerously.
Deep into the second half, Victor Moses dived into the opposition penalty area resulting in his second yellow card of the match, and Chelsea was reduced to 10 men. It looked like the end of the match for Chelsea but Diego Costa had other ideas and equalized moments after the red card. Chelsea looked the more dominating team after the goal and it seemed like Arsenal will capitulate again. But Aaron Ramsey was the hero again as he headed the final goal into the net and sealed the 7th F.A cup for Arsenal under Wenger.