Premier League - Chelsea thump Arsenal

Eurosport - Mon, 11 May 08:59:00 2009

Chelsea secured at least a third-place finish in the Premier League after a 4-1 win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Arsenal-Chelsea Alex scores - 0

Alex and Nicolas Anelka - playing against his former club - were on target during an entertaining opening period before Kolo Toure put past his own keeper to add a third just four minutes into the second half.

Substitute Nicklas Bendtner gave hope to Arsenal by pulling one back with 20 minutes remaining, but Florent Malouda's late strike sealed all three points for Guus Hiddink's side.

Victory saw Chelsea extend their lead over Arsenal to nine points with just two games remaining. And with third place safely in the bag, they are assured of entering next season's Champions League group stage directly.

The Gunners meanwhile will have to settle for a fourth-placed finish - and the final Champions League qualifying round.

Arsenal bossed the early exchanges, enjoying more possession and creating the better chances, yet it was Chelsea who went in at the break two goals to the good.

The reasons for that statistic were two-fold - a lack of composure at one end, and two exquisite demonstrations of the art of finishing at the other.

While Arsenal huffed and puffed in the Chelsea half, Theo Walcott in particular causing a number of problems for the visitors' defence, crucially they lacked a cool head in front of goal.

Walcott, for all his endeavour on the right wing, was as guilty as anyone and put three decent chances wide of the mark during the first half and a further one after the break.

Abou Diaby should also have done better on 12 minutes, slicing his effort wide after good work by Walcott, while Alexandre Song could only fire the wrong side of the post on the turn from close range after 24 minutes.

And the Gunners were made to pay when Alex showed them exactly how to do it, the Brazilian defender rising majestically to meet a free-kick on 28 minutes with a towering header from around the penalty spot that beat Lukasz Fabianski all ends up and crashed in off the underside of the bar.

Despite going behind, Arsenal continued to press forward and they nearly found an equaliser eight minutes after the opener went in, Robin van Persie seeing a neat flick cleared off the line by Jose Bosingwa.

Chelsea stood firm and they were rewarded with a second on 39 minutes, Anelka ghosting past Samir Nasri in midfield before surging forward and unleashing a swerving shot that found the bottom corner.

The former Gunner could have added to his own personal tally just before the half-time whistle, but Fabianski was equal to his first-time strike from Malouda's cross.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger opted not to make any changes at the break, and Chelsea continued where they left off - celebrating a goal.

This time there was an element of fortune to the breakthrough, Toure the unfortunate player who slid in to meet Ashley Cole's driven cross and divert it into his own net.

On the hour mark, Wenger finally decided to shuffle his pack, bringing on Bendtner for Diaby. The move invigorated the hosts and their attractive passing play was finally rewarded with a goal 10 minutes later, the Dane rising above Michael Essien to head home.

The goal gave the Gunners hope, and for another 10 minutes they were roared on by the home crowd in the hope of pulling back another goal to set up a grandstand finish.

Bendtner, again, and Robin van Persie both headed on target while substitute Emmanuel Adebayor had a loud penalty appeal waved away and Mikael Silvestre saw a close-range effort blocked by Cech.

But the hosts just could not breach the Chelsea back line, and their efforts were proved in vain when Malouda grabbed a fourth on 86 minutes, the Frenchman stabbing home from close range after his own initial effort had been saved and Anelka had hit the post with the follow up.

Replays showed Malouda to have been in an offside position when Anelka struck his shot, but with just four minutes remaining, had the goal been chalked off, the decision would probably have come too late to change the outcome of the game.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport

Comment 252 - 271 of 291

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  1. No. 256 is right, who selects and buys the players? who­ makes a decision as to which player to be fielded? Is­ it not the coach. How can you separate failure from a­ coach who has been given money to spend but he refuses­ to do so? In conclusion there no only one person we can­ point at and it is Mr. Wenger, all other explanation he­ gives are not strong enough as compared with the­ results. It is better to complain with a win on your­ side. "Success has many fathers but Failure is an­ Orphan" so no matter whatsoever you say as long as­ you have failed, you remain a failure. Years down the­ line people will only remember team that excelled and­ collected trophies not failed teams that tried but­ failed to be given a penalty or a free kick.

    From asenambo, on Mon 11 May 12:30PM

  2. 286,will your "history" put points on the­ board? You are not even the best team in london­ anymore, so where is that going to lead you? Maybe a­ UERO LEAGUE cup final. You Gunners are the best at­ ignoring whats right in front of your eyes.

    Enjoy your­ "entertaiment" , leave the search for glory­ to those who want it the most....

    From ghettovest, on Mon 11 May 11:30AM

  3. ah comeon wenger that all you f.... fault you had all­ the seasson to bring good player
    let say you have 1 vr­ good left back gal clichi but did you expected him to­ be fit the hhall seasson you should have buyed second­ LB not conting on gibss or what ever his name .he did­ well but he is not a player who you count on hin in big­ game and that was the weekeness of arsenal lately lb­ was 00 i hop you put your self togaither next seasson­ ,i lovr arsenal when i was 13 and today am 30 so plzzz­ dont made me hate arsenal do some think like every good­ manager dos or plzzz get out of the club

    From moncef h, on Mon 11 May 10:46AM

  4. The blues is still the best team in the world. I can­ see the blues with (4) four throphy next­ season'''UP­ CHELCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC'''

    From shane, on Mon 11 May 10:29AM

  5. 285 Your right there no one like foul mouthed cheats­ You have a lot of history to catch up what is it now­ for Arsenal 110 years ish in top flight How long are­ you lot 3 weeks!

    From gunnerman&boy, on Mon 11 May 10:23AM

  6. To alfonsocattivo......

    following your logic, Arsenal­ will soon have no history either. ITS BEEN 4 YEARS­ SINCE YOU WON ANYTHING!!

    Chelsea have plenty of­ history, but unlike media darlings man utd, liverpool­ and arsenal, we dont have hoards of pundits all over­ telly putting their biased opinions forward.

    No one­ likes us, we dont care.

    From ghettovest, on Mon 11 May 10:17AM

  7. Arsenal fans should stop bleating, and tell Danny­ Fitzman (assuming you know who that is) to either spend­ some money on EXPERIENCED,QUALITY players, or sell his­ shares. He is the one holding you back...its laughable­ that you back stabbers are blaming Wenger - he's a­ better coach than Ferguson by miles.

    Carefree......

    From ghettovest, on Mon 11 May 10:13AM

  8. At long last, THE BLUES have done what they know how to­ do best. When Arsenal defeated Chelsea at the bridge,­ it was a battle line drawn. Now I am happy to tell you­ that CHELSEA STANDS TALL!!!!!!!!!!! Prove me wrong if­ you can.

    From koonlay, on Mon 11 May 9:42AM

  9. i think it was time for mr wenger to exit arsenal, as­ much as i love his good football,i think its time he­ left now before he loses totally the respects of­ millions of fans who have been loyals to him for all­ dis years.

    From guyguynimba, on Mon 11 May 9:35AM

  10. If we look at the full table of the EPL, we'll­ probably get to see the real problem in Arsenal.

    Pos. ­ Team Pl W D L GF GA +/- Pts
    1 ­ Manchester United 35 26 5 4 65 23 42 83
    2 ­ Liverpool 36 23 11 2 72 26 46 80
    3 ­ Chelsea 36 23 8 5 63 22 41 77
    4 ­ Arsenal 36 19 11 6 64 36 28 68

    Say,­ doesn't Arsenal measure up to the other teams­ (except Liverpool) in terms of number of goals scored?­ It is our defence that let us down. It seems like we­ don't have a solid holding midfielder or a rock­ solid defender to partner Toure. Gibbs appears­ promising (he can partner the strikers in attack) but­ he's still inexperienced. If Arsene is willing to­ spend more on quality defenders, then maybe Arsenal­ might have a chance.

    I believe the Gunners lost it­ when they were knocked out of the FA cup by Chelsea­ earlier on. Had they won that one, the current spirit­ in the Arsenal camp might be different as they'll­ still have something to fight for.

    Anyway, Win Or­ LoSe, I'm a GUNNER 4 LifE!

    From jabronibeater, on Mon 11 May 9:30AM

  11. Please!!sack that man and put a stop to this madness,­ Wenger has outlived his usefulness as a coach,we­ don't have quality players because of his­ stubbornness and arrogance.Follow this:He loans­ Senderos and buys Silivestre!!he has always refused to­ strengthen his squad, that is his failure and he needs­ to resign and give way for someone else to bring in new­ ideas and also strengthen the squad, Wenger is doing­ harm to so many people.

    From Sammy, on Mon 11 May 9:27AM

  12. Now it looks like Iniesta may be out of the ch.lge­ final. Don't things just fall into Man U's lap?­ Again lucky Utd.

    From alanmhair, on Mon 11 May 9:26AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Chelsea is one of the teams that makes Manchester­ United looks undisputed and tremendous team. So, screw­ chelsea and it's fans....

    From pria_so7, on Mon 11 May 9:19AM

  14. F*** you Chelsea Fc you ain't got no HISTORY!
    F***­ you Chelsea Fc you ain't got no HISTORY!
    GO­ GUNNERS!!

    From alfonsocattivo, on Mon 11 May 9:19AM

  15. 269 utd would have thumped your team of old cripples­ anyway, so be glad the old folks club is open so they­ can go sup their sweet tea and watch utd in the CLF

    From john, on Mon 11 May 9:14AM

  16. As a Man United fan I feel sorry for the Arsenal fans.­ I think they deserve better from their team. Hope next­ season you'll be up there challenging for the­ trophies and help make the EPL a more exciting league.

    From cokrowinoto, on Mon 11 May 9:03AM

  17. Arsene along the way has lot the plot. This season is­ already out as far as Arsenal is concerned. They need­ to regroup and rethink for next season. One can only­ guess that there will be changes in personnel because­ they are simply not good enough this season.

    From cokrowinoto, on Mon 11 May 8:51AM

  18. arsenal no longer have confidence, the boys are still­ young.

    From star, on Mon 11 May 8:46AM

  19. whatever it is i feel chelsea is still the best,and i­ love them all,they are the real champions of uk,love­ you chelsea

    From Tony, on Mon 11 May 8:26AM

  20. the arse are going in the wrong­ direction................having the best stadium in the­ country is not wot the fans want they need investment­ in the team and lots of it now!! They think having­ young players are for the future, but is it not now­ anymore?? Manure and Chavski are showing them power­ with some finese.............Next season they will not­ qualify for the CL in europe

    From Wayne, on Mon 11 May 8:19AM
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