Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

The inspirational finishing of Didier Drogba and the power of Alex produced the goals that decided the London derby and made it five straight wins over Arsenal.
They know all about him, they heard all the talk before the game but still they can't stop him. A first-half when both sides found space in the opposition half and saw chances come and go was drawing to an end when Didier Drogba converted an Ashley Cole ball from close range to score his 13th goal in 11 starts against the Gunners.
However if Stamford Bridge was expecting more of the same, even contest between the sides in the second-half it was disappointed as the away side took greater control of the game in a way that will have Arsene Wenger, if true to past form, claiming some sort of moral victory but their Achilles heel was exposed and they couldn't finish the pressure off.
Chelsea missed the chance to extend our lead near the hour-mark when Nicolas Anelka missed the type of chance you would put your house on him scoring but the Blues weren't made to pay, and we also suffered a couple of erroneous offside calls that prevented further goals.


Alex smashed in a free-kick with five minutes left on the clock and then it was the home team's turn to spurn openings. It was a Chelsea-Arsenal game with so much familiar about it, even with new players in both sides.
Carlo Ancelotti kept faith with the 11 that had started the defeat at Man City so Ramires tasted this London derby for the first time. Arsene Wenger made one change from his setback against West Brom the same day, Jack WIlshere returning to midfield with Emmanuel Eboue making way, and in a tactical tweak he pushed Abou Diaby into an attacking midfield role, and not without an impact.


Arsenal soon showed Chelsea would have to work hard for the three points by issuing a vigorous wake-up call after just 28 seconds.
Sagna crossed towards the penalty spot and Chamakh dived in front of Alex to head just wide. It didn't get any more secure for the Blues when the corner that followed flicked off Malouda and was headed over from just two yards out by Koscielny.
Drogba left Sagna on the seat of his shorts in his first physical contest and then fired a second-minute free kick well over.
Chelsea wee testing the new-look Arsenal rearguard with aerial balls. Malouda looped a shot over after their central defence dithered in dealing with a JT punt upfield.
It was true end-to-end stuff in the opening stages with Cech asked to save down low from Arshavin on seven minutes.
Drogba was looking very lively and popping up on the right, he skinned Clichy and belted the ball across to where Malouda lost out to Koscielny.
Then the Ivorian was only a yard or so away from finishing off a scintillating counter attack that was begun by Essien charging away from a foul challenge by Wilshere.
On 18 minutes the Essien-Drogba corner combination could have paid off again when the Ghanaian met the delivery with a thumping header but he diverted it wide.
A run of Chelsea chances came to an end on 27 minutes when Arshavin was afforded space to shoot from wide out on the left and Cech executed one of his saves of the season so far to tip the ball away from the top corner.Then Nasri cut inside Ramires and let fly as Terry slid in, but this time the attempt was off target.
On 34 minutes Essien and Drogba combined in open player, Drogba leaving his marker on the floor as he burst away onto a pass down the right-hand side of the area. The shot was accurate but a good height for Fabianski to save.
The breakthrough came on 39 minutes and goes down as Ramires's finest moment in a Chelsea shirt so far.
He won the ball deep inside the Arsenal half and after receiving it back off Mikel, drove a perfectly weighted ball through the Arsenal defence for Cole to run on to and strike a first-time ball in towards the near post.
There was only one way for Drogba to score and he delivered. Diverting it off his heel, where fortune had favoured Carlos Tevez last week, so it did Chelsea this time as the ball bounced off the inside of the post and in.


Drogba after running away behind the Shed End goal in celebration, pointed to the sky, presumably a sign of sympathy for his manager's bereavement. Ashley Cole in the Shed End/East Stand corner enjoyed the goal too.
Chamakh tried to con the ref into awarding a penalty as he fell over Cech's stationary body early in the second half, and Arsenal caught Chelsea napping and won a corner on the break, one of three in quick succession as they again were sharpest out of the dressing room.
The pressure kept coming as a Diaby shot deflected off Cole and dropped wide of the Chelsea goal.

There then came a tale of two penalty decisions. Koscielny won the benefit of the doubt when he took the ball and Drogba at the same time in the area and then Ramires made a goal-saving challenge on Chamakh and again referee Mike Dean waved play on.
Arsenal were well on top yet ironically this was the spell when Chelsea could have gone a long way to putting the game to bed.
Squillaci dawdled as he ran the ball back towards his own goal, Anelka picked the pocket of his compatriot and went wide of Fabianski in text-book style but then with the goal gaping rolled his shot just wide.
On 69 minutes, Ashley Cole rifled Anelka's pass into the net but the whistle had gone for offside. Replays showed the Chelsea left-back was level with the last Arsenal defender.
On 72 minutes there was a direct swap of Ferreira on for Ivanovic and shortly after Chelsea finally broke the shackles to threaten the Arsenal goal once more.


Mikel it was who brought the ball under control and then the excellent Essien found the run of Anelka. This time his aim was true and although Fabianski could only push the ball back into play, it evaded Drogba's charge into the box.
Referee Dean had allowed the game to ebb and flow by showing restraint with his whistle and let at least two fouls go without a booking that many refs would have punished, but finally brought out the yellow when Ferreira brought down an attacking Rosicky.
Chelsea had a big escape when Rosicky sent over a cross soon after and Chamakh headed wide from six yards before the home team had every right to feel aggrieved over an offside flag when Ramires was played clean through. He had been a yard behind the defensive line.
Arsenal were looking stretched at the back when the Blues could push forward and Kosceinly was booked after he dragged Anelka to the ground 30 yards out.
Alex and Drogba lined up behind it but it always looked likely to be the Brazilian's turn. On Tuesday he hit the post, today he first found the gap left by Malouda pulling out the wall and then the top corner with an absolute screamer.


There were 85 minutes played. That was the game won, and Essien should have made Arsenal suffer further but their keeper saved one-on-one as the Ghanaian tried to chip over him.
The Pole had flapped once in the first half when he somehow pushed a ball from out wide back in front of his goal, but he did well again before the close when saving a powerful Malouda drive.
Stamford Bridge warmed up for one of those 'One Step Beyond' dances that follow our biggest home wins, but if there was anything that could put a slight dampener on the day it was more injuries.
A feature of the first half had been Arsenal players requiring treatment after seemingly routine challenges with some of Chelsea' strong men. But now it was Blues shirts leaving the pitch with neither Mikel nor Alex finishing the game. We were down to 10 men during stoppage time.
At least there is now a two-week international break for recovery, an interval we enter four points clear of the pack.
Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic (Ferreira 72), Alex, Terry (c), Cole; Essien, Mikel (Sturridge 88), Ramires (Zhirkov 82); Anelka, Drogba, Malouda.
Unused subs Turnbull, Van Aanholt, McEachran, Kakuta.
Scorers Drogba 39, Alex 85.
Booked Ferreira 79.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Fabianski; Sagna, Squillaci (c), Koscielny, Clichy; Wilshere (Emmanuel-Thomas 80), Song, Diaby (Rosicky 69), Arshavin (Vela 87); Nasri; Chamakh.
Unused subs Szczesny, Djourou, Denilson, Eboue.
Booked Koscielny 84.
Referee Mike Dean
Crowd 41,828.
Shots on Chelsea 6 Arsenal 5
Corners Chelsea 9 Arsenal 10
Fouls Chelsea 7 Arsenal 13
Offsides Chelsea 7 Arsenal 2

Chelsea 2-0 Marseille

Chelsea made it two wins from two in Champions League Group F with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Marseille.
The French champions made life tricky at times for the Blues, but an early goal from captain John Terry, his first of the season, and a Nicolas Anelka penalty inside the first half-hour put the game beyond the reach of our visitors.
Alex and Michael Essien both went agonisingly close to extending the lead in the second half, but Carlo Ancelotti will be content with getting back to winning ways after successive domestic defeats.
Marseille, led by former Chelsea midfielder Didier Deschamps, lined up differently to how they started their matchday one defeat against Spartak Moscow, with only six players surviving from that game.
Chelsea too were a little unfamiliar, with Frank Lampard, Salomon Kalou and Yossi Benayoun still injured and Didier Drogba still suspended, there were starts for Yury Zhirkov in midfield and Gael Kakuta in attack, the 19-year-old lining up on the right of the front three, where Nicolas Anelka led the line down the middle.

Two minutes in it was the visitors who had the game's first chance, Lucho Gonzalez misfiring his shot, and the ball ricocheting wide off team-mate Loic Remy's heel.
It was a deflection at the other end four minutes later, from Florent Malouda's shot, which led to Chelsea's opening goal.
Kakuta took the corner from the right, swinging it into the near post area where John Terry had made his run, and the captain deftly flicked the ball just inside the post with the outside of his boot.

It was the perfect way to quieten, if not entirely silence the visiting support, which had been vociferous in its abuse of the French World Cup men during the first few minutes.
It certainly hadn't affected Malouda, who had flown out of the blocks. He nearly doubled the lead on 13 minutes after beating his marker Charles Kabore for strength and skill in equal measure, but fired hsi right-footed shot just over Steve Mandanda's crossbar.
Anelka than had his own chance, after Kakuta had threaded him through, but although powerful, his shot was angled straight at the goalkeeper.
His next chance would be rather more straightforward, coming from the penalty spot after Stephane Mbia was adjudged to have handled Michael Essien's right wing cross. Anelka stepped up, shuffled and calmly slotted it low to the static goalkeeper's left.

Marseille continued to search for their first goal of this season's group stages, Benoit Cheyrou twice went close while Alex had to block a powerful effort inside his own area, but there was no denying who was firmly on top come half-time.
Cheyrou once more, a Gabriel Heinze overhead kick and a long-range Brandao drive kept Petr Cech busy as the second period commenced, and then Lucho had a powerful attempt kept out by Ashley Cole's knee.
Back on the attack, Chelsea almost had a third when Alex's deliciously vicious free-kick came back out off the inside of the post before John Mike Obi had to block substitute Andre Ayew's low drive.
Marseille were getting closer, and Chelsea deeper, but with the two-goal cushion it hardly looked as though the result was in doubt.
Essien cracked a side-footer against the top of the post as the Blues looked to put it out of reach, but other than these isolated incidents a third goal was looking as unlikely as Marseille finding their way back into a game that had begun to drift.

Mathieu Valbuena worked Cech with a low bender and a Chelsea passing move ended with Daniel Sturridge miscuing wide before Josh McEachran replaced Mikel in midfield for the final few minutes.
The youngster started the move that led to Chelsea's final chance, which worked down the left and back inside to Essien, who hit the woodwork for the second time of the evening.
That was the last of the action as Chelsea's 100 percent record continued, in a game where we had shown enterprise in the first half, and resistance in the second.
Chelsea(4-3-3):Cech; Ivanovic, Alex, Terry (c), Cole; Essien, Mikel (McEachran 87), Zhirkov (Sturridge 72); Kakuta (Ramires 61), Anelka, Malouda.
Scorers Terry 6, Anelka (pen) 27
Booked Mikel 81
Marseille (4-3-3): Mandanda (c); Kabore, Diawara, Mbia, Heinze; Lucho Gonzalez, Cisse, Cheyrou (Ayew 58); Remy, Gignac (Valbuena 58), Brandao.
Booked Mbia 26, Heinze 28
Shots on Chelsea 4 Marseille 5
Corners Chelsea 2 Marseille 2
Fouls Chelsea 14 Marseille 14
Offside Chelsea 8 Marseille 1