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Chelsea ripped apart Premier League title rivals Arsenal in a 6-0 mauling at Stamford Bridge yesterday to ensure Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th game turned into a nightmare for him and blundering referee Andre Marriner. |
Goals from Samuel Eto’o, Andre Schuerrle, Eden Hazard, Oscar (two) and Mohamed Salah coupled with Marriner’s decision to send off Kieran Gibbs for a handball by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will ensure Wenger remembers the day for all the wrong reasons.
The sending-off did little to affect the destination of the points, however, as Arsenal were already 2-0 down when Gibbs was dismissed for his teammate’s indiscretion and Hazard stepped up to covert the resulting penalty after just 17 minutes.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho extended his unbeaten record against his bitter managerial rival to 11 games and the league leaders moved seven points clear of third-placed Arsenal having played a game more.
This was Arsenal’s biggest defeat since they were thrashed 8-2 by Manchester United in 2011 and will feature high on Wenger’s list of worst performances in his 17-and-a-half years in charge.
It was the second time in six weeks that Arsenal had visited a major title rival and left with their tails between their legs after their 5-1 thrashing by Liverpool last month. In a similar vein to that encounter, their defence was all at sea in the early stages, allowing Chelsea to effectively wrap up the points within minutes of the kickoff.
The visitors, though, had the first chance with Olivier Giroud forcing a smart save from Petr Cech after four minutes but seconds later they fell behind. With Arsenal over-committed, Chelsea sprung forward quickly and Schuerrle fed Eto’o in acres of space on the left of the penalty area. The experienced striker cut inside a half-hearted challenge and curled a superb left-foot finish into the corner.
With the Arsenal defence in disarray, Chelsea struck another rapier-like blow after seven minutes, again exposing Arsenal’s open left flank with Schuerrle this time applying the finish with a low drive across Wojciech Szczesny into the corner.
It was then Marriner’s turn to rival Arsenal’s blundering backline for the day’s costliest error as he flashed a red card in Gibbs’ direction after Oxlade-Chamberlain had made a diving fingertip save on the line to deny Hazard.
Replays showed an incredulous Oxlade-Chamberlain mouthing “it was me” at the official, but the decision stood and Gibbs trudged to the touchline before Hazard calmly stroked the penalty down the middle of the goal after 17 minutes.
Mourinho, often the quickest out of the blocks to criticise officials, this time came to their defence.
“There were lots of people in box,” he said. “From the bench you couldn’t see, one of my assistants said it was (Mikel) Arteta, one said Chamberlain. The penalty is a penalty and the red card is a red card, but the wrong player.”
The match was over as a contest but Chelsea continued to toy with their opponents, adding a fourth through Oscar who was set up by Fernando Torres to finish from close range three minutes before the break.
Arsenal’s calamitous afternoon was neatly encapsulated when Szczesny made a hash of saving Oscar’s curling shot which bounced up off the ground before tamely finding the net.
Salah came off the bench to slot his first goal for the club under the Arsenal keeper for Chelsea’s sixth.
Elsewhere, Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Liverpool won 6-3 at Cardiff City to move to within four points of Chelsea, while City are two points further back—but with three games in hand—after Yaya Toure also claimed a treble in a 5-0 win over Fulham.
Suarez now has 28 league goals for the season, just three short of the record for a 38-game campaign.
City moved above Arsenal into third place after Toure’s treble helped to put paid to bottom club Fulham, who had defender Fernando Amorebieta sent off early in the second half.
Toure’s first two goals came from the penalty spot and he completed his first City hat-trick with an effortless 25-yard curler before Fernandinho and Martin Demichelis added two late goals.
Sunderland remain in the bottom three, albeit with two games in hand on the sides immediately above them, after a Robert Snodgrass goal and an Alexander Tettey blockbuster saw them go down 2-0 at Norwich City.
In the last game of the day,
Manchester United beat West Ham 2-0 with Wayne Rooney scoring both the goals in the first half.
Results
Chelsea 6............................ Arsenal 0
Cardiff City 3.................... Liverpool 6
Everton 3............................ Swansea City 2
Hull City 2........................... West Bromwich 0
Manchester City 5........ Fulham 0
Newcastle United 1...... Crystal Palace 0
Norwich City 2................. Sunderland 0
West Ham 0...................... Man United 2