{"id":9501,"date":"2024-04-24T08:06:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T07:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9501"},"modified":"2024-04-27T11:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T10:18:51","slug":"resurgent-arsenal-crush-chelsea-as-partey-joins-the-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=9501","title":{"rendered":"Resurgent Arsenal crush Chelsea as Partey joins the party"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2149893038\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:76.26263% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2149893038?et=EXwRpYH5Tv9WDFH5CBJGpg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=Y4GsufioCb9X0K4AWlf8eQLoL3i3Vy826-ZIDEbckZU=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"453\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>On the tube tonight on the way to&nbsp;this match I encountered a group of Neanderthals who soon outed themselves as Chelsea fans. I will censor their comments but their expectations for the game were either that they would get crushed 5-0 or it would be a classic. Their main hope was that Kai Havertz would not score against them. It was to be an evening when their worst imaginings came to pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal made a few changes from Saturday\u2019s starting eleven. Tomayisu was chosen at left back and Partey started in midfield with Rice for the first time this season. Our esteemed friend Btm has been suggesting Partey should come into the side for some weeks and the quality of his performance tonight underlined why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although profoundly outclassed Chelsea squandered a series of opportunities in the first half but ended with only one shot on target. Their team was missing some key players, including the exciting Cole Palmer, but still cost a fortune and one can say with confidence that their outlay on Nicolas Jackson was money appallingly spent. They suffered a first defeat in nine league&nbsp;games, and degenerated into a sad rabble long before the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal began brightly and led inside four minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Declan Rice was given&nbsp; time and space to advance deep into the Chelsea half&nbsp;before slipping in Trossard to run outside Gilchrist and fire home a low, left-footed shot&nbsp;which was allowed to squirm home by Petrovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0 &#8211; Trossard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chelsea&#8217;s suffered a very lucky reprieve when Jackson avoided a potential eighth-minute red card after raking Tomiyasu\u2019s ankle with his studs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rice then fired narrowly over from the edge of the box following a delightful piece of control, before the visitors almost snatched a strange leveller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson outpaced William Saliba down the left wing, and his attempted cut back deflected&nbsp;off Gabriel and struck the outside of the near post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Petrovic then saved well from&nbsp;Havertz and, moments later, made a fine reaction save to keep out Trossard\u2019s effort which took a&nbsp;touch off&nbsp;Disasi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ben White produced a crucial block to deny Marc Cucurella after good work from Madueke, and&nbsp;Fernandez side-footed the rebound just wide. One felt Arsenal were vulnerable to the quick break and I particularly hoped Mudryk would not harm us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson then mystifyingly&nbsp;handled a terrific&nbsp;headed chance from Conor Gallagher\u2019s cross as the first half finished with a number of yellow cards, including one for Arteta. It seemed he felt that the referee was inconsistent in booking Trossard having excused Jackson\u2019s reckless challenge. I think he had a point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half-time &#8211; Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the interval the game was in the balance as we had not been clinical in our finishing and Chelsea had the pace if not the composure to catch Arsenal on the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arteta must have got into his side at the break and they came out with much more purpose after the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Petrovic saved well from Rice and Havertz following lovely work by \u00d8degaard, who was in quite sublime form. Then from a corner Rice thrashed in a shot which was deflected to White who finished well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 2 Chelsea 0 &#8211; White<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Havertz was then superbly released by \u00d8degaard and held off Cucurella to loft the ball over Petrovic. The goal was scrutinised by VAR after a heavy challenge by Gabriel on Madueke but was allowed to stand. Perhaps VAR were reluctant to chalk off a goal created by such brilliance from the Norwegian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0 &#8211; Havertz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jackson\u2019s erratic game continued as he hit the side-netting with only David Raya to beat before Arsenal ploughed further ahead. Havertz doubled his tally in the 65th minute by firing home via the right post after receiving a short pass from Saka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 4 Chelsea 0 &#8211; Havertz<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White got his second five minutes later when he chipped a volley across goal from \u00d8degaard\u2019s dinked pass and it flew into the top left hand corner. It looked fortuitous but was a fair reflection of the gulf between the sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 5 Chelsea 0 &#8211; White<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 72nd minute Arsenal made a quadruple substitution bringing on Martinelli, Zinchenko, Jes\u00fas, and Jorginho, and ten minutes later brought on Vieira for Saka. The Portuguese laced a fierce drive just wide showing commendable confidence and ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full-time &#8211; Arsenal 5 Chelsea 0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was not only an emphatic win but showcased some of the very best aspects of this Arsenal side. \u00d8degaard was mesmeric. I rate him extraordinarily highly and it was the best game I have seen him play. Rice was also brilliant, full of running and creativity, freed possibly by Partey\u2019s elegant presence beside him. I thought the blend in midfield was excellent tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Defensively we were troubled by Chelsea\u2019s pace on the first half but overwhelmed their flaky attack in the second. Havertz had a slightly wasteful first half but an excellent second helped by the&nbsp;penetrative running of Saka and Trossard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is always nice to win local derbies and a 5-0 win is especially pleasing. As Trev\u2019s excellent preview underlined Chelsea&nbsp;are a club in the midst of a financial crisis and they seem to lack character and structure on the pitch. Their capitulation in the second half came mainly through Arsenal\u2019s excellence but I ran into those morons on the tube again after the match&nbsp; suggesting that we might win f*** all and then encountered them being apprehended by the police on Arsenal station. They and their underachieving team deserve each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We march on with a healthily increased goal difference and THE&nbsp;big derby to come. We were excellent tonight and seem in good shape to take our title challenge deep into the season\u2019s finale &#8211; come on Everton and Brighton!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images On the tube tonight on the way to&nbsp;this match I encountered a group of Neanderthals who soon outed themselves as Chelsea fans. I will censor their comments but their expectations for the game were either that they would get crushed 5-0 or it would be a classic. Their main hope was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9501"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9524,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9501\/revisions\/9524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}