It was a tough encounter earlier at the Emirates stadium, as the newly signed Arsenal gaffer Mikel Arteta played host to Frank Lampard's Chelsea. It wasn't a game to miss, more interesting is the fact that it was between two young coaches who are still trying to build their managerial pedigree. It was Arteta's first home game with the Gunners and no matter what happened, Arsenal fans will be going back with a hope that there is an ongoing improvement in the squad. It seems the players spirits have really been motivated and their previous game against Bournemouth that ended in a 1-1 draw shows Arsenal could get transformed by the arrival of Arteta. Against Chelsea at the Emirates, we saw an Arsenal team with the hunger to pick up points against the resilient Blues. Despite injuries forcing Arteta to make use of some younger players, I think this was probably their best performance this season. The midfield was a bit more composed that what we've been witnessing in the past few weeks under Unai, and we can see team outcasts like Mesut Ozil being in great spirit and taking the ball to Chelsea. If not for the lack of concentration and flimsy error by Arsenal's Goalkeeper Leno, I think the Gunners would have shared the spoils with Chelsea if not all points.
The game ended 1-2 in Favour of the blues. It's Chelsea's 11th win and Arsenal's 6th defeat in the league this season, leaving the Blues with 35 points on 4th position, while the Gunners are 12th 24 points. It was the home side that drew the first blood to light up the Emirates, after Pierre Emerick Aubameyang headed in a goal to put Arsenal on the lead. I could see Arteta's celebration, he was proud of his immediate impact on dying team. The home fans jumped and cheered in uncontrollable ecstacy, it's been a while they saw their team in such form, especially against a side like Chelsea who are currently mounting pressure within the top four region. However, the blues wouldn't give up as they continued to exert pressure on Gunners who seem to have lost a little groom the game. With less than 10 minutes left at normal time, Leno made a fatal error which led to Jorginho leveling the score. Some would have thought that was the end of the drama, however, a dying minute goal from Tammy Abraham handed the visitors a 2-1 win over Arsenal. Despite the loss, fans seem not too disappointed with the result, having seen what the new coach is trying to build. The new coach blamed his squad for their dying minute misfortune and rather feels Leno needs to be supported now than blamed. In general, it was worth the while and we look forward to Arsenal subsequent games to see what Arteta have in stock for them.
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