The London derby between Chelsea and Arsenal was more than just a battle amongst two teams; it was a bragging-right competition between the clubs’ managers, and the story remained the same as Jose Mourinho triumphed over Arsene Wenger again despite losing the physical battle in the technical area!
The game was a heated tie; there were tackles flying in, cards being shown, altercations happening on the pitch and the sidelines. Amongst all the chaos, Mourinho’s team managed to win the game 2-0 courtesy of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa’s strikes, and in fairness, they deserved it by the balance of play.
The talking point of the game came in the 20th minute when a rash challenge by Gary Cahill resulted in a yellow card. Wenger’s reaction was an angry one as he shoved his opposing manager.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Mourinho said, “For me, it is over. But the technical area is very clear – I have mine, he has his and he cannot come to mine, especially to put pressure on the referee to give a red card to my player. So I just told him ‘leave my technical area and don’t come back please’.”
Mourinho also revealed that Arsenal were lucky to finish with eleven men on the pitch, “I think the referee, from a technical point of view, had a fantastic performance in a difficult, technical, fast match with lots of runs behind – also the linesmen had a difficult game and I think they did a fantastic job. But Arsenal could have finished with eight men, because it is a red card for Koscielny, it is a double yellow card for Chambers in the first half, and clear was a red card for Welbeck.
“But I accept that the Welbeck red card was not given – the game was over and Welbeck is a good kid and is not aggressive. It was just maybe a reaction, some frustration. So I have no complaint really but my boys are doing fantastic we beat a good Arsenal,” the Portuguese manager added.
Both teams were the only unbeaten sides remaining in the competition, so the clash promised a lot. But from a neutral’s point of view, Arsenal did not do enough to make it an exciting game despite a good start early on. Mourinho went on to add, “It was a difficult game. They started better than us, but Eden gave us the penalty and the first goal and the game could have finished there if it had been a red card. At the end of day they had more of the ball than us but we had the chances so we scored two goals, we won and I am happy we beat a good team.”
Chelsea’s win takes them 5 points clear of closest rivals Manchester City and 9 points ahead of Arsenal who lie in 8th place after a difficult start to the season. Wenger’s side will face Hull City at home after the international break while Chelsea will travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.