The Blues are closer to Arsenal than people think | OneFootball

Another good performance by Chelsea against arguably the best team in Europe and yet again undone by poor set-piece defending and a red card which have been the story of their season so far.

“We’ve conceded too many goals from set-pieces, that’s why we are where we are in the table,” Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah said after the game against Arsenal.

This season, Chelsea have played Arsenal four times:– a 1-1 draw in the Premier League at Stamford– a 2-3 loss in the first leg of the EPF Cup– a 1-0 loss in the second leg of the EPL Cup– yesterday’s 2-1 loss in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium. All the games were close, but in each Premier League game they got one red card.

A Question of Focus

On the surface, it will look like Arsenal are dominant against their fierce London rivals, but the margins are small. Chelsea are winless in their last eight Premier League games against the Gunners but in possession and overall gameplay they look equally or marginally better. They fail when it comes down to offensive and defensive details. In simple terms, Arsenal players are more mentally ready for the Premier League than Chelsea players.

“It’s a focus and concentration thing that we need to get right,” Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior told the media after the games against Arsenal. 

“We had ten games from when I came in where we didn’t have these issues, but now we’ve had two [red] cards in two games, so there is something deep lying that we need to get to the bottom of. The thing is for me, if we can get to the bottom of those two main things, we can be a very, very good team and achieve all the things we want to achieve.” 

Match Report

Chelsea started the game very well, dominating their opponent, but conceded a goal from Arsenal’s first corner-kick of the game. William Saliba rose to head home from a corner delivered by Bukayo Saka. Gabriel Magalhães flicked it back across goal, allowing Saliba to nod it in—Arsenal’s trademark set-piece execution paying dividends once again.

Chelsea didn’t drop their heads and kept pushing and were rewarded just before half time. A Reece James corner caused chaos in the box, and Arsenal defender Piero Hincapié unfortunately diverted the ball into his own net under pressure. It was 1-1 at the break. 

The Blues came out for the second half looking like the most likely team to score in the first 20 minutes of the second half, but once again, Arsenal found a way to score from a set piece. Declan Rice delivered a corner-kick in the 66th minute, and Jurriën Timber leaped highest to power a header past the keeper. That goal proved to be the winner.

However, the game turned decisively in the 70th minute when winger Pedro Neto  received a second yellow card—resulting in a red—for a reckless challenge. This left Chelsea with 10 men and shifted momentum firmly toward Arsenal.

Despite the man disadvantage, Chelsea remained competitive and pushed for an equalizer. They had a late effort disallowed for offside and forced some nervy moments, with goalkeeper David Raya making crucial saves. Raya’s efforts preserved the lead as the game ended 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, restoring Arsenal’s five-point gap at the top of the Premier League table.

Chelsea dropped to 6th, behind Liverpool, who beat West Ham 5-2 at Anfield on Saturday. The World Champions are 3 points behind Liverpool and 6 points behind Aston Villa, whom they will face at Villa Park on Wednesday.

Not All Bad

Despite being winless against their London rival this season, Chelsea have shown they are technically and tactically not inferior to Arsenal. They just need to cut down their mistakes, improve their concentration over 90 minutes, remain disciplined, and defend better; then they can not only match Arsenal, but any team in the Premier League.

Of course, their shortcomings are mostly down to inexperience as they are currently the youngest squad in the Premier League. Overall, Rosenior remains optimistic about the underlying quality and potential, but stressed that without addressing these “deep-lying” flaws, the team won’t progress, regardless of bright spells against top opposition, like Arsenal.

“We need to do something, for sure. I need to speak to the coaching staff, the staff around the club, the players, because it’s not acceptable,” he said.

It’s now up to Liam Rosenior, his staff, and Chelsea’s Sporting Directors to put heads together and figure out what they need and how they are going to salvage their season. It starts with the game against Aston Villa.