Arsenal-Chelsea, nil-nil-nil
Arsenal has been chasing Chelsea for months, and
a scoreless draw at Stamford Bridge means the race for the Premiership is
essentially over.
It starts off as a showdown between the #1 and #2
teams in the Premiership. It would honestly take a series of Arsenal wins
coupled with Chelsea losses for Chelsea to be deprived of the league title.
Arsenal must not lose, and really should win to have a realistic chance of
making the final weeks close.
Arsenal start
out with determination, and in just the 3rd minute, Robert Pires hits the
crossbar. Seven minutes later, Pires shoots wide on a rebound in the box, and
Chelsea are giving the distinct impression of being hemmed in. Arsenal have
possession, and have easilly entered the Chelsea area. However, after 15
minutes, Chelsea's offense begins to poke its head out. Drogba probes on the
right, Gudjohnsen chases down ball after ball in the
midfield.
An aside: In the 20th minute, an
Arsenal player brings a ball down cleverly with his hand. I'm seeing more and
more of this in top European and South American play, and I can't imagine why.
It is deliberate and usually completely uneeded. Referees are neglecting to give
cards for this, one of the most funamental infractions of the game. What's
going on?
Gudjohnsen heads wide in the 22nd.
In the 31st, Duff gets free, passes to a wide open Drogba, but Lehmann got a
foot to it and saves an almost certain goal. Certainly the Arsenal defense are
not looking as tight as Chelsea's. In the 34th, Chelsea once again break away.
Drogba seems to be in, then passes instead of shooting, and it hits Cole a
little behind him and he misses. Gilberto has a chance for Arsenal in the 38th,,
but Gallas blocks. All the possession in the world is not helping Arsenal in the
final third of the field.
Both teams have
chances in the opening part of the second half, but the game has settled down
some, with Arsenal pressing but failing to find a way through and Chelsea
counter-attacking. There are good battles going on, such as Cole (Ashley) versus
a Cole (Joe) and Bergkamp versus Terry. In the 65th, a great Drogba dummy leaves
it perfectly for Lampard, but he shoots just
wide.
In the end, Chelsea are too cool and
collected, and secure the draw they require. It seems almost impossible that
they not win the Premiership for just the second time in their history, the
first coming in 1955. They have put together, thanks to lavish spending of
course, a dream season that sees them virtually undefeated (a single loss so
far) and having conceded a miserly 12 goals. Tip of the hat then, because as all
Mets and Yankees fans well know, you can throw money at sports and still
lose.
Posted: Thu - April 21, 2005 at 12:02 AM