Absolutely bossed it! Superb performance! Not the analysis I was expecting to give after a match against Chelsea, but the 3-0 victory over our London rivals really was of the highest quality.
Three well-taken goals by Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil got us all three points, with the latter being picked out as man of the match by BBC Sport. Fellow attacking player Alex Iwobi was given man of the match by BT Sport, but what impressed me the most was the defence. The centre-back pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi kept the Chelsea attack of Eden Hazard and Diego Costa very quiet. In fact, the whole back four were solid for the most part and we played with a lot of fluidity in attack. I should take this moment to praise the performance of Theo Walcott. Before the match I was questioning his selection and said to a friend how I wouldn't have started him, but he certainly silenced by criticism with an excellent display. In truth, our attack maybe should've scored more, but it was still an excellent result.
Chelsea only had two shots on target in the entire match and each time I kept thinking, 'I bet Chelsea nick a goal out of nowhere to scupper us', we had other ideas and continued to pressure our opponents.
I don't want to get carried away as it is only one game and there is still a long way to go this season but if, and it's a big if, we can produce performances like that on a regular basis this could yet be an exciting season. Whatever happens, that is a performance we can really enjoy! Especially when you consider this was our first league win over Chelsea since 2011, it made it all the sweeter! It came at a cost with Francis Coquelin being forced off injured with a knee problem. I would've also liked to have seen summer signing Lucas Perez given a run out, but I'm sure his time will come, and beating Chelsea was the main thing!
Arsenal started brightly with Santi Cazorla forcing Thibaut Courtois into a save, while Sanchez shot deflected over the bar. The Chilean had better luck next time as he opened the scoring after 11 minutes. Sanchez pressured Gary Cahill and forced the England defender into an error before racing clear on goal and chipping the ball over Courtois.
It got even better just three minutes later as Walcott finished off a great team move. Alex Iwobi released Hector Bellerin with a perfectly-timed pass before the Spanish defender sent in a first-time cross for Walcott to slot home.
Even at 2-0, I knew Chelsea weren't out of it yet and the visitors came close to reducing the deficit when Willian shot just wide.
The Gunners then completed a fine first half with a third goal five minutes before the break. Ozil intercepted the ball in his own half before running at the opposition and passing to Sanchez, who returned the ball back to him in plenty of space with an excellent cross for the German to volley home.
What an excellent first half it was and some were comparing it to last season's victory over Manchester United, but I think this one was even better! I half thought the second half would peter out but, even though we didn't add to the score, we continued to attack and look in total control of the game for large periods. Walcott came close to adding his second goal of the afternoon, but Courtois did well to block his effort.
At the other end, Chelsea did try to mount attacks, but our defence held firm with some great challenges. We really looked up for the game and determined to get a result.
Just as Pedro looked like he might be about to burst through, Bellerin raced back superbly to deny him with an excellently-timed tackle. The closest Chelsea came to a goal was when Michy Batshuayi raced towards goal, but Petr Cech was on hand to block the substitute's effort.
What a performance and what a day to remember! But we need to make sure we make this count and reproduce this again next week and the weeks that follow!
OPPOSITION VIEW
Chelsea fan Paul Boulter admitted his side had been second best at the Emirates.
"Fair play to Arsenal, they absolutely put Chelsea to the sword," said Boulter. "I don't think I have seen the Blues dominated so much during the Abramovich era.
"Arsenal scored three very well worked goals as it seemed Chelsea weren't at the races. Conte needs to sort out the defence and quick, but Arsenal sent out a real statement.
"Arsenal will have a good season judging by this game. It seems Wenger has his house in order."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
After one of, if not our best league performance in recent seasons, we must now try reproduce more of the same as attention turns to the Champions League and the visit of Swiss outfit FC Basel.
If we can play like we did against Chelsea again FC Basel could be in for a hiding, but we must take each game on at a time and not get carried away or complacent.
But no matter how things pan out we can finally say that we have ended our Premier League Chelsea hoodoo and in perfect style.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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