Arsenal dismantled a hapless Chelsea 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium, ending a barren run against its London rivals and piling further pressure on Antonio Conte’s porous defence.
It was as much about a scintillating Gunners performance as it was a tepid Chelsea one, with all three goals coming inside the opening 45 minutes.
Alexis Sanchez opened proceedings after capitalising on a Gary Cahill error, while Theo Walcott doubled the lead just two minutes later. Mesut Ozil then capped it off with a superb counter-attacking goal in the 40th minute.
Arsenal stamps title credentials
The North Londoners marked a fourth straight league win in dazzling fashion, bossing a Chelsea side it has had endless problems with in recent years.
The opening day defeat to Liverpool is now a distant memory, with the Gunners now third in the table and hot on the tales of Manchester City and Tottenham.
The home side’s opening half hour was as brilliant as you are likely to see – Walcott and Ozil’s goals was vintage Arsenal.
REVIEW | Paul Pogba proves his worth in an emphatic display from Man United #MUNLEI #MUFC #LCFC #PL https://t.co/rxZbQZWhHp
— Outside90 (@Outside90) September 24, 2016
Curtains for Cahill, Ivanovic
Two workhorses are beginning to become a liability at the heart of its normally rock-solid defence.
Despite all the talk about David Luiz’s return, the form of Branislav Ivanovic and Gary Cahill could not be understated against Arsenal: it was a listless performance from the Blues’ most-experienced stalwarts.
Cahill turned the ball over for a direct opposition goal in the third League match running, while Ivanovic had Chelsea supporters’ hearts in mouths whenever he had the ball at his feet.
It showed just how reliant Chelsea is on a 35-year-old John Terry and why Antonio Conte was so keen to bring in defensive reinforcements: Kurt Zouma cannot return from injury quickly enough.
The importance of Shkodran Mustafi
The Arsenal attacking brigade of Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott deserve plaudits, but the form of the club’s big defensive signing cannot be understated.
Chelsea was just 10 minutes away from registering its first performance in nine years without a shot on target, with Koscielny and Mustafi barely giving their opponent’s offence a sniff.
After conceding four on the opening day to Liverpool at home, the Gunners have now conceded just two goals in the League while scoring nine since Mustafi’s debut against Southampton.
His signing from Valencia was a protracted series of events, but at the moment the German looks like the centre-back Arsenal fans have been yearning for to partner Laurent Koscielny.
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