Gunners beat Chelsea to give Wenger the perfect anniversary present
Arsenal boss' brave approach ends winless run against Chelsea
ARSENAL 3
(Alexis Sanchez 11, Theo Walcott 14,
Mesut Oezil 40)
CHELSEA 0
The primal screams across the Emirates Stadium was the sweet sound of Arsene Wenger getting that monkey off his back.
Nine previous games had passed, nine failed attempts in the English Premier League to silence the gloating gluttons across London.
Finally, at the 10th time of asking, the Arsenal manager defeated Roman Abramovich's millionaires in blue on Sunday morning (Sept 25, Singapore time).
Antonio Conte was left seeing red, a dizzying, captivating blur of rampant reds helping themselves to a 3-0 victory against Chelsea.
Wenger won, Arsenal won and - let's just say it - football won.
This was a triumph for the purists, a vindication for Wenger and a rare example of positive, often scintillating, football defeating defensive cynicism.
Conte must learn quickly that a handful of cautious games with an inferior squad at Euro 2016 cannot be replicated across an entire EPL season.
From first minute to last, nothing went right for the abject visitors.
As expected, Cesc Fabregas earned his first EPL start of the season after excelling in the League Cup, slotting in just ahead of N'Golo Kante.
And he was dreadful.
Conte's cautious 4-1-4-1 line-up invited the Gunners to venture forward and dominate possession, needing only 11 minutes to spring the Italian's trap.
But the assist came from the hapless Gary Cahill.
Dithering on the ball near the halfway line, his attempt to play a back pass was awful, allowing Alexis Sanchez to intercept and float the ball over the advancing Thibaut Courtois in the 11th minute.
The unstoppable striker from Chile left Cahill feeling the heat.
IDENTICAL MISTAKE
Chelsea's centre back made an identical mistake in a similar position against Swansea a fortnight ago. His casual, suicidal approach will infuriate his manager.
Conte builds from the back. Right now, he's building a house of cards.
But, if Arsenal's first came from a defensive mistake, their second was a masterclass of swift, incisive counter-attacking.
A lovely one-two between Mesut Oezil and Alex Iwobi released Hector Bellerin along the right. His fizzing cross presented Theo Walcott with an easy finish.
The clock read 14 minutes. Chelsea's collective body language read like an obituary.
Conte's "soak and counter" strategy, a favoured ploy at both Juventus and Italy, depends on a resolute back four.
Chelsea didn't have one. John Terry's absence left Cahill looking like a worrying liability whenever the Gunners surged forward, which was often.
On the touchline, Conte turned into a cartoon villain, his bulging eyes practically out on stalks as he raged against his rusty machines.
It's hard to recall a Chelsea side, any Chelsea side, so clumsy and inept, unable to trap, keep or pass a ball with anything close to fluency or consistency.
The Blues are learning quickly that Conte is not the Messiah. He's a very outraged manager who inherited a disjointed side and an ageing defence.
Still, Arsenal's third goal was a thing of beauty.
In the 40th minute, Oezil spun away from an uncharacteristically hopeless Kante and devoured the space before feeding Sanchez.
The Chilean returned the compliment, sending a chipped cross towards the far post. Oezil's volley was mishit, but the ball bounced awkwardly over Courtois and found the net off the post.
Before this morning, Arsenal hadn't scored against Chelsea in six EPL games. They had three by half-time. The contest was over.
The second half turned into a procession, an exhibition for the hosts, an exercise in damage limitation for the visitors.
Still, Courtois was called upon more than once to absolve the sins of his wretched back four.
Arsenal probably deserved more goals, such was their domination, but the utter humiliation of their former nemesis was all that mattered.
Wenger has finally exorcised the most stubborn of demons. For Conte, his defensive demons are rapidly multiplying.
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