Arsenal vs Chelsea Feb 7, 2010

And we begin. (Popular demand) :))

Warning: Updates are quicker than that of BBC or related sites. But definitely not as detailed.

The first five minutes have largely been Chelsea's...

8th min. DROGBA scores. Superb corner. Superb flick. Arsenal is indeed Drogba's bunny.
10' Strong interception by Chelsea. Drogba wastes it. Stamford bridge sure'd look ominous to Wenger now!
11' Arsenal are visibly shaken, just like what happens whenever a major team scores against them.
12' Can Arshavin and Cesc do anything to turn this around?
13' The way Chelsea play reminds me of the Champions league Semifinal against Barcelona last year. Pure class. Not something I've seen from them since then. How did this happen?
15' Nasri sure doesn't look like the man for the job. Malouda looks like the one.
16' Drogba's offside by an inch. Arsenal survives... Meanwhile, Cesc is no match for Cech at the other end.

Hi to our first visitor Ivan :)

17' Cech saves the day for Chelsea. Arshavin almost scores.
19': @Ivan's comment. Personally, I don't care about his personal life. He plays like God.
20': Cech is too much to take for Arsenal. Got a feeling the Blues have slowed down. Their defence is coming into play.
21': Arsenal has been having the ball for the last 5 minutes.
22' DROGBA SCORES. Lampard begins the journey , takes it through and pushes it to Drogba who fires it, yes, literally fires it past Almunia. Almunia is not good enough for this. He was clueless.
25': Arsenal are figuring out what's happening. Cech on the other side and the score would have been a different story.
26': Chelsea lead 2 - 0 and that only tells us how strong Arsenal's defence is.
28': Sixty seconds of possession for Arsenal after a while
30': There's a replay of that Drogba tornado on TV. The cameramen can't get enough of it, we can't get enough of it. Awesome finish. Great job by Frank Lampard too.
32': Ashely Cole almost scores. Again. Corner.
33': Malouda takes the corner. It's looming around the Arsenal goal and oh, Anelka is... you know, offside.
34': Ivanovic and Carvalho have been the only defenders tested today. terry's been having it easy and Ashley Cole is almost playing LW.
36': lampard is handling too many roles with elan there. Seriously happy at this performance from the Blues. Still a bright chance for a Champions' League victory for an English side, I must say. If only they had Rooney alongside Drogba, I wouldn't have even a doubt.
38': @Ivan. Walcott runs behind Ashley Cole. This game is one example of how good Ashley cole can get.
39': Malouda magic. Not much follow up.
39': Ballack is surprised at Arsenal defenders bumping into each other and Drogba almost places it at Anelka's feet to fire. Another time, it would be a goal.

Would love more followers. Seriously.

41': Nasri gets the better of Ivanovic for the first time today.
42': Now we know why Chelsea bought Malouda. Devastating. He could be. He spins like Shakthimaan and ta da, he is already beyond you.
44': Arshavin doesn't come close to even teasing Terry. Is this the Andrei we knew?
45': The commentator says it all. Terry reads Sagna's mind.
46': Ivanovic brings Cesc down. Intentionally. Lucky to get away without a card.

2 extra minutes before the break.

47': HEAD ON COLLISION. Malouda and Vermaelen. Blood. Gore. Malouda was just too fast / very dangerously daring and Vermaelen was just too complacent. Vermaelen's floored. Malouda walks on with blood flowing from his head.

HT Chelsea ahead by two goals.

John Dykes: Arsenal swept aside! When have we seen that before?
Fellow commentator: Last week, against Manchester United...

Really, what happened to Arsenal? Andrei is not at his creative best. Walcott and Diaby look silly, Gallas and Vermaelen are the only defenders, Sagna is a pushover. What is going on, Mr.Wenger?

For England in SA, Terry (despite all the news around him) and A.Cole are a must! Combine that with Rio and we have an unbreakable defence of 3. 3 - 4 - 3 is an option Capello should consider strongly, perhaps? or 3 - 5- 2, going by Rooney's form...

46': Second Half is ON
46': Walcott gets the ball out of play from his own possession. Silly or what? Slipped, actually.
47': 46th was an Arsenal minute. A snake without its teeth would be a good analogy. No?
48': Gallas could have easily hit the ball anywhere he wanted. Instead, it's a corner. Brilliant corner by Lampard. No one utilizes it.Headed away.
49': Chelsea not playing as a team yet in this half. Arsenal couldn't have it any better.
50': Cech still looks impossible for Arsenal.
51': Drogba is down. Perfect start for Arsenal, seriously.
53': Too many fouls from Chelsea in eight minutes, me thinks.
54': Ashley Cole stops what would have been a killer pass.
55': Almunia is lucky. A rolling ball and he struggles to latch on to it. He does it at the end though.

@Mayil Arsenal are confused.

56': Anelka humiliates great play from Ivanovic and lampard. Lampard especially. Humiliates is the word.
58': Strange that Almunia hits a long shot to terry on the right half with all Reds on the other half...
59': Moments of brilliance from Drogba at one end and Ballack at the other.
60': The ball is in Chelsea's half. No, not joking. Nasri hesitates at teh crucial moment and loses it.
61': Terry's injured there or what? Limps.
62': Ballack's good at interceptions. Too good in this match, at least.
63': Drogba's passes are all killer. ALL of them. Chelsea haven't been good enough to use em. Lampard was running too fast for that pass. A second slower and it would be at the back of the net. Only a matter of time beofre it's three, if it goes on like this.
64': Walcott's off. Bendtner's in. And yes, terry's injured.
Much needed change for Arsenal. but Bendtner?
66': Nasri's not giving Cech any problems.
67': Interception header by Diaby. Yes.
67': A limping Terry's faster than Arsenal. #quote
68': What was between Drogba and Cesc? Was typing and missed it.
69': Carvalho brings Bendtner down just outside the box. Free kick from the line. Cesc vs Cech.
69': PETER CECH is the DUDE of the hour.
70': AGAIN. CECH saves AGAIN. He is beyond Human. A few saves in this match have been of the "How in the world did he stop that?" type.
72': Clichy proves he is equal to Anelka.Not a great achievemnt looking at how Anelka's been playing today.
73': Almunia's brave enough to walk outside the box. Ha.
74': Rosicky for Diaby and Eboue for Sagna. Now Wenger's talking! Wait a minute, did he read my blog?
76': Corner for Chelsea. Malouda. ballack heads it into the stands. Wenger's been a busy man today shouting at people.
77': Super pass from Eboue to Bendtner, and like all passes to Bendtner, wasted.
78': Eboue beginning to threaten Chelsea. They should look at isolating him.
79': Zhirkov's ready to come in.
80': Arsenal had a chance there. Pucca header from fabregas. If only it hadn't been Bendtner!
81': Like I worried, Bendtner's as much of a problem for Arsenal as is Mikel. Zhirkov on for Ballack. Ovation.
82: Good recovery from Lampard after a stumble. Free kick for Chelsea.
83': OFF THE POST!!! BRILLIANT SHOT!! ALMOST A HATTRICK. Almunia could do nothing there. Noone else could have.
85': Another freekick. cesc feels chelsea doesn't deserve it. I didn't see. Anelks misses again.
86': Eboue and cesc are the only good things Wenger can take away from this match. and someone remind him, Bendtner's a waste.
87': Good one here. J Cole for Anelka. Another goal on the cards now, I think.
88': yellow for Zhirkov. Deservedly. Vermaelen will have that first half souvenir from Malouda for a while, I think.
89': Lampard and Gallas push each other. Whatay fun.
90': Fabregas comes close. Was twenty inches from taking a clean sheet away from Cech.
91': Kalou for Drogba. Standing Ovation.
92': Zhirkov's not a great replacement for Ballack. Yet to see him at his best for Chelsea.
93': Brilliant attempt to get the ball to Rosicky from Arshavin, but the name's Cole, Ashley Cole.

Hullo visitors?

94': Wenger's upset, and he has been so for a while now. Ashley Cole stops anything that comes in to the box. Saves a lot of trouble for Cech.
96': Er. How many added minutes are there, by the way?

CHELSEA WIN 2 - 0 largely due to an amazing display of football in the first half that left half of Arsenal wishing they weren't there.