Chelsea put their early season struggles aside to claim three points against a nine-man Arsenal side in a fiery encounter at Stamford Bridge.
As usual when these two sides meet, there was an array of talking points as Arsenal saw red twice while Diego Costa controversially remained on the pitch.
- John Terry started on the bench for the second game running as Kurt Zouma was preferred to the skipper and Ivanovic took the captain’s armband
- Chelsea carried the intensity of their midweek Champions League win into today’s first half, pressing and chasing the ball down much better than last Saturday against Everton
- Fabregas looks to be getting back to his best – set up Pedro for a great chance early on before supplying the delivery for Zouma’s opener early in the second half
- Diego Costa should have been sent off after a flailing arm hit Koscielny’s face on two occasions – the resulting confrontation saw defender Gabriel sent off for a kick on the Chelsea striker
- The Blues swiftly took advantage of their numerical advantage in the second half – Zouma scoring his first Premier League goal on 53 minutes from a Fabregas free-kick
- Chelsea went to sleep after this – Sanchez should have equalised for the visitors as they looked to punish Chelsea’s slow passing game which lacked penetration
- Cazorla saw red late on after two bookable offenses and Eden Hazard opened his account for the season shortly after, sealing the points for the Blues
- Only Chelsea’s second win of the league season and their first at home
- Those players dropped in midweek were vastly improved, Ivanovic put in his most solid performance so far this season
- Mourinho beat Arsene Wenger (again!) and the Frenchman took off too quickly after the game for a second handshake between the two
What’s your opinion on these talking points? Should Costa have been sent off? Who was your man of the man? Comment and let us know!
