Chelsea have been the best team in the Premier League this season, and they continued their impressive form, getting past Arsenal 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. They are now 12 points clear at the top, and Chelsea are increasingly inching closer to the title, though, they are yet to play 14 games.
The Blues were unstoppable against Arsenal. They looked a confident unit and played consistent football for 90 minutes to clinch three points. Marcus Alonso scored the opening goal, but it was Eden Hazard, who stole the show with a brilliant performance including a wonderful solo goal. Cesc Fabregas scored the third goal of the match after an error from goalkeeper Petr Cech. Olivier Giroud scored the consolation goal for Arsenal in the 91st minute.
The first ten minutes did not produce much action, with the game being played in both the halves equally. However, it was Marcos Alonso, who broke the deadlock in the 13th minute with the Chelsea defender heading the ball in. The credit must also go to Diego Costa, who headed the ball onto the crossbar and the ball looped up, where Alonso jumped above Hector Bellerin, who landed badly and also led to him being subbed few minutes later, leading to the opening goal.
Costa and Hazard were in imperious form, creating trouble for the Arsenal defenders, with their quick movement and powerful game.
However, the goal gave Arsenal huge lift and they enjoyed some decent possession and the home team were under some sort of pressure. The clash became hugely entertaining with the game producing end to end stuff.
Despite the threat, Arsenal were not able to equalise, but Gabriel should have found the back of the net from around eight yards close to the goal in the 38th minute. His effort was saved off by Chelsea goalkeeper. The visitors also got another chance just before the first half came to an end, but Mesut Ozil failed to score after a wonderful ball from Francis Coquelin.
After a scintillating first 45 minutes, Chelsea started brightly with Hazard scoring a wonderful solo goal in the 53rd minute, inching closer to yet another impressive win in the Premier League. That goal just showed why the Belgian is regarded as one of the best players, when on song, in world football.
Chelsea, with Hazard in such form, were playing some wonderful football, and were threatening to kill the game with a third goal. With two goals down and less than 30 minutes left for the game to end, Arsenal decided to bring in striker Olivier Giroud, replacing Coquelin in the 65th minute. Few minutes later Arsenal also brought Danny Welbeck for Theo Walcott with the hope of a special comeback.
The English striker came close to goal, but his header was denied by Thibaut Courtois, who dived full length to his right. It resulted in a corner, which should have been converted by Shkodran Mustafi, who missed a header. He did not even head the ball into the target.
Just a few minutes after Cesc Fabregas came on the pitch, he also found his name on the scoresheet. He scored the third goal for Chelsea in the 85th minute as the midfielder was presented a gift by Cech, who hit the ball straight to Fabregas, who put the ball in the empty net from around 25 yards out.
That was not the last major action of the match as Giroud scored a consolation goal in the 91st minute, which did not have any impact on the match result. Chelsea, who looked a better team for 90 minutes, deservedly won the match 3-1.
