It was a day of mixed experiences for Arsenal supporters that watched their side lock horns with Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The encounter as expected was filled with lots of fascinating moments from the home side, although it did not end in their favour.
Arsenal had to cope with the absence of key players like Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, Kieran Tierney, Sokratis, Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos and Gabriel Martinelli. The boss employed a central defence duo of Calum Chambers and David Luiz.
Evidence of Arteta's impact on the team once again manifested in the way we played from the start of the tie. Our boys were in full control with coherent passes that put our opponents on red alert. Frank Lampard's first-half substitution wasn't unconnected to the threat we posed.
It was still while we were on top in terms of overall dominance that we went ahead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's headed ball from a corner kick, thanks to Calum Chanbers' assist. Unfortunately, the Englishman had to be taken off ten minutes later, to be replaced by Shkodran Mustafi. How severe his injury is was still unknown as at press time today.
Chelsea seemed to have gathered spark after the break but we were still strong in our battle to hold them back. Luiz intervened with a sliding tackle to deny Tammy Abraham while Bernd Leno handled a header from the English-Nigerian.
Willock had a chance to extend our lead. It didn't work out and it was shortly after that Bernd Leno missed on his move to hold the ball from a freekick, giving Jorginho the chance to score a close-range goal. The scorer should have been sent off earlier.
It was all over for us after a second which was scored by Abraham. 1-2 it ended and we lost our last game of this decade. Still 12th on the league table.
New Year's Day will be our next game still at the Emirates Stadium and with another top side, Manchester United.
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