The din from the majority that greeted the final whistle was an outpouring of joy after five years largely spent dreading this derby. Arsenal, rampant and irrepressible, have become the latest contenders to expose just how far Chelsea have slipped in the period since they claimed the Premier League. On this evidence, it is barely conceivable that those in blue had hoisted the trophy only 16 months ago. Their current, dishevelled selection surrendered meekly here, just as they had to Liverpool the previous week, from the moment they were breached. It ended up as a brutal humiliation to endure.
Arsène Wenger will hardly care, with this an exorcism of sorts of the “inconvenient facts” thrown up by his side’s recent record against these opponents. Even in his wildest dreams, the Frenchman could never have contemplated celebrating two decades in charge in such a wildly authoritative manner. Retreat to 2003 and Chelsea, with their Russian oligarch owner recently in situ, were arguably the club who most undermined Wenger’s original project by shifting the landscape just as the Invincibles were threatening a period of dominance. In that context, the Arsenal manager took particular pleasure in seeing his side inflict this drubbing in such scintillating fashion.
Not since Robin van Persie had run riot at Stamford Bridge in the distant days of André Villas-Boas’s dysfunctional tenure across the capital had Arsenal achieved such a satisfying return from this fixture. They had not even managed a goal in the teams’ previous six meetings. This was the home side making up for lost time, tearing into vulnerable rivals and ruthlessly cutting them to shreds. “We did it with style and steel,” offered Wenger. “You always want the perfect game but you never get it. But we got almost the perfect first half here, and that is not bad.” That smacked of understatement.
It was the pace and invention of their attacking approach that rendered Chelsea so helpless though, in truth, they were only emulating what Liverpool had inflicted upon these ramshackle opponents eight days previously. Jürgen Klopp’s side had bypassed this same rearguard with their own blend of pace of pass and speed of thought. Everyone knows that Arsenal, on their day, can match that upbeat rhythm. What is becoming increasingly clear, with each passing week and stuttering defensive display, is that Antonio Conte cannot perform miracles with this Chelsea team to repel it. Their rearguard looks broken.
The manager actually questioned his players’ attitude, reminding them publicly and repeatedly that, at present, “we are a great team only on paper, and not on the pitch”. Even that theory might be flawed if it was the mid-table slump of 2016, rather than the title of 2015, which better reflects this team’s abilities. Conte, his hackles raised, urged his players to prove their quality through his post-match monotone, but his patience is clearly running thin. This team’s creaking defence, a backline too fragile to provide any kind of platform for a title challenge, is a constant concern. Without John Terry’s organisational skills they looked utterly rudderless, but to be reliant upon a 35-year-old who has been surviving on one-year contract extensions for three seasons seems vaguely ludicrous.
The ease with which Arsenal waltzed through the visitors’ ranks, whether the attacks were led by a revived Theo Walcott and Mesut Özil, or Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sánchez, was inexcusable. Özil was showboating on the touchline before the interval in the afterglow of his goal, volleyed down and into the turf to loop over Thibaut Courtois and dribble in off the far post. That chance had stemmed from the German’s sprint from deep, away from N’Golo Kanté, and then an exchange with Sánchez which rendered David Luiz and Gary Cahill dazed and confused. At times this felt cruel. It was certainly all too easily inflicted.
Chelsea’s backline were strangers groping in the dark. They had shipped twice within 141 seconds early on and, while Arsenal’s second was a thing of beauty, the first had shattered any conviction that lingered in the visitors’ ranks. Branislav Ivanovic’s back pass was unhelpful at best, awkward at worst, but Cahill should still have dealt with it. Instead, he dawdled on the ball, perhaps contemplating a lay-off to Courtois, and was duly dispossessed by the galloping Sánchez. The Chilean advanced and calmly clipped his finish over the advancing goalkeeper. At Swansea, Cahill had been fouled by the eventual scorer, Leroy Fer, in a similar scenario. Here he was culpable.
Thereafter Arsenal dazzled. The slick delivery and clever movement that dragged Chelsea horribly out of position moments later took the breath away, Özil twice zipping passes to the excellent Iwobi before the youngster slipped Héctor Bellerín free beyond a dizzied Eden Hazard. All resistance melted away. Bellerín slid his centre across for Walcott to score first time and, over on the touchline, Conte spun on his heels, hand clamped to his chin and disgust etched across his brow.
So limp have his side’s first-half showings been over the last month that he must have his half-time admonishments preprepared and polished by now. At Leicester in the League Cup in midweek they had sparked a revival but there was to be no riposte here. Petr Cech, a European Cup winner in blue, blocked Michy Batshuayi’s attempt six minutes from time, but that was Chelsea’s only meaningful effort on target all evening. Cahill and Courtois were bickering before the end, the centre-half infuriated by the Belgian’s hesitancy in collecting a loose ball. That rather summed it all up. The visitors could not escape soon enough, with Arsenal’s celebrations hounding them from the arena.
