Arsenal v. Chelsea 1-2 18/Apr/09

Exactly when the Gunners had a fairly decent run of no-defeats and that certain form of game play had been cementing regarding new players, injuries and rotation, Chelsea destroyed them, apparently in an easy and very hurtful way for Wenger's men and Arsenal supporters.
Even though that in the last match Arsenal overcame the Blues with a superb show by van Persie this time it was "Tito" Drogba who neglected the young Gunners in a dismal and dreadful performance by each and everyone of the north London players, except Gibbs whose performance was not that troubled as the previous ones. Now the Gunners' hopes rely on Champions League glory only if the best of the best performance could arise from the young Guns feet.
Next match is against title contenders Liverpool in the context of the 20th anniversary of the tittle as well as the Hillsborough tragedy.
We can remember five years ago, in February 2004, Reyes show as well as a clear dominance from Arsenal to Chelsea in 170 games played. Again it were the amusing and intelligent comments of Quique Wolff and Miguel Simón that animated ESPN's broadcast.







It was Arsenal's dominance that brought them the lead, with an overwhelming pressure and talented gameplay, at 18' when Gibbs crossed tp Theo who after a deflection on Cole's hand, scored. In the follwoing miuntes the pressure piled up for the north London side and even though the defense faced a solid opposition Hiddink's men easily overcame the Gunners and meanwhile, at 25', all seemed to pass through Lampard's boots. The equalizer came after the ex-Hammer made a long and apparently offsided-pass. Malouda took the advantage of the defense distraction and scored on Fabiasnki's goal, who could have done a better job in both goals. Of the first minutes were completely sided to the Gunners the next forty five were of the Blues.







Again Chelsea's momentum seemed not to disappear and Adeabayor's attemtps wide off the mark only highlighted the job from the defense. The match went quite the same as the first half with not many arrivals to mention until the alleged penalty kick on Walcott. From then on the Gunners mental state grew tired and after several arrivals from Chelsea three substitutions came, thinking in the following thirty minutes. But 'Tito' Drogba made it certain, that the Gunners were not going to contend in Wembley next month. Again Lampard, with a fine long ball, set Drogba who only waited for the right moment to joggle past Silvestre and to wait for the premeditated exit by Fabiasnki. Obviously the goal was a punch that the gunners could hardly recover. One thing to mention was Silvestre's performance: "Silvestre se ha resignado." prayed Simón. I completely agree with him. Later repetitions shown that he seemed reluctant to the fact that Drogba would lead. That, dear reader, is not the attitude of a professional. Again English silverware will have to wait another year for the Gunners.