Mesut Özil strike seals Arsenal’s impressive demolition of Chelsea

The din from the majority that greeted the final whistle here was an outpouring of joy after five years largely spent dreading this derby. 

Arsenal, so rampant as an attacking force, have become the latest contender to expose ruthlessly just how far Chelsea have fallen off the pace in the period since they claimed the Premier League. On this evidence it is barely conceivable those in blue hoisted the trophy 16 months ago, with this occasion having degenerated into a humiliating drubbing from the moment the hosts eased ahead.

Not that Arsène Wenger will care. Even in his wildest dreams, the Frenchman could never have contemplated celebrating two decades in charge in such wildly authoritative manner. Chelsea, with their oligarch owner, were arguably the club who most undermined Wenger’s project just as his invincibles had threatened to dominate, so the Arsenal manager must have taken pleasure in seeing his side win in such scintillating fashion. 

Not since Robin van Persie ran riot at Stamford Bridge back in the distant days of Andre Villas-Boas’s dysfunctional tenure across the capital had his side achieved such a satisfying return from this fixture. He will hope that with his team third and confidence swollen this is a sign of prosperous things to come.

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This tête-à-tête has been dominated by Chelsea over recent years, to the extent that Arsenal had not managed a goal since January 2013. Yet the sight of Antonio Conte pacing his technical area in frustration, eyes smouldering with fury at so much of what he was witnessing, confirmed times have changed. His team is a work in progress with a backline too fragile to provide any kind of platform for a title challenge. Liverpool had bypassed this selection with their own blend of pace of pass and speed of thought. Arsenal merely repeated the trick and duly enjoyed similar rewards.

They should have run up a cricket score before the interval as they swarmed all over dithering opponents though, even so, the contest felt settled by the time Michael Oliver offered the visitors 15 minutes’ respite.
Admittedly Arsenal were built to thrive on the counterattack once their lead had been established, but the ease at which Chelsea parted, inviting Theo Walcott and Mesut Özil, or Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sánchez, to slice through into the space was inexcusable.
FacebookTwitterPinterest Mesut Özil scores Arsenal’s third goal in their Premier League win over Chelsea. Photograph: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

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 that rendered David Luiz and Gary Cahill helpless bystanders. At times this felt cruel.
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It was all far too easily inflicted. Chelsea’s defensive record this season – with a solitary clean sheet, against newly-promoted Burnley, in eight matches – is damning, but denied John Terry’s organisational skills the current backline are 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 backpass was unhelpful at best and 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, at 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.

The visitors were ramshackle, César Azpilicueta and David Luiz tracking runners as the ball flew around them. All resistance melted away. Bellerín slid his centre across for Walcott to convert first time and over on the touchline Conte spun on his heels, hand clamped to his chin and with disgust etched across his brow.

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So limp have his side’s first-half showings been over the past month that he must have his half-time admonishments prepared and polished by now. At Leicester in the League Cup in midweek they had come from behind to win. Here they should have been scuppered when Walcott, completely free down the hosts’ right, clipped into the centre but slightly too high for Sánchez, leaping in front of an empty goal.

Cesc Fàbregas, a bold selection from the start against his former club, was hauled off well before the hour as the visitors rejigged with three centre-halves, but the home side remained irrepressible: their runs too slippery, their passing tormenting crestfallen opponents.

Courtois did well to deny Walcott his second as he wriggled easily away from Marcos Alonso far too easily, but Cahill was bickering with his goalkeeper before the end, infuriated by the Belgian’s hesitancy in collecting a loose ball. That rather summed it all up.

The sight of Petr Cech, a European Cup winner in blue, smartly blocking the substitute Michy Batshuayi’s attempt with six minutes remaining added to the visiting supporters’ pain. That was their side’s first meaningful effort on target all evening, and was swiftly followed by a yellow for Diego Costa. Chelsea could not escape soon enough.