Chelsea edge Arsenal in an exciting contest: 3 takeaways

Chelsea hosted London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Here are three things we learned.

Maurizio Sarri came away victorious in his first major test as manager, with a 3-2 victory over Arsenal.

Both sides were dangerous in the final third which meant the match was an exciting contest, but major defensive issues certainly contributed to that. The two managers  have a lot to work on if they want to finish in the top four. Here are three takeaways from the match.

Chelsea further along in managerial transition

There are similarities between the styles Unai Emery and Maurizio Sarri are trying to implement, but the two sides are at different stages in how successfully they have been replicated. Chelsea are happy to play from out the back because Kepa Arrizabalaga is confident on the ball, which is in stark contrast to Petr Cech.

Cech doesn’t deserve all the blame because neither Sokratis or Shkodran Mustafi are comfortable in possession, whereas, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger were happy making difficult passes such as 30 yard chips over the opposition defence into the path of runners from deep. How much time the defenders had on the ball also highlighted how the two sides are at different stages of their development because the Blues were much more effective with their pressing.

The difference between the sides was mostly a case of better execution of the respective manager’s ideas. Chelsea’s summer signings certainly helped because Kepa and Jorginho are both suited to Sarri’s expansive ideas.

Chelsea still have defensive issues to solve because they gave the Gunners a route back into the game. However, the free-flowing attacking passages of play could be seen in their play, so Sarri has done well to embed his radical ideas so quickly in a team that used to be set-up defensively in a 3-4-3 under Antonio Conte.

Emery did show his pragmatism because his team stopped playing out from the back as much in the second half. This directness meant they ceded possession a lot more, but there were less defensive mistakes for Chelsea to take advantage of. It also has to be acknowledged that Arsene Wenger was an integral part of the club for 21 years, so it requires a lot to move on from that.

Late midfield runs hurt Arsenal

Ross Barkley and N’Golo Kante were encouraged to make runs from deep when their team was in possession with great effect. Arsenal’s high defensive line was stretched by the Chelsea front three of Alvaro Morata, Willian and Pedro. This left gaps to exploit and the two midfielders made intelligent runs along the line before bursting in behind.

They complimented Jorginho well because he stayed deep and sprayed passes over varying distances with his customary accuracy. He was able to dictate tempo from deep and the Gunners didn’t put nowhere near enough pressure on him. His pass to Marcos Alonso in the ninth minute left the Spaniard acres of space to drive into behind the defence and he was able cross to Pedro who dispatched the chance for the first goal.

The midfield two of Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi were outnumbered in the central areas, and didn’t get enough support from the four forward players in the first half. Without this support, they constantly had the conundrum of tracking the runners or leaving the central areas in front of the defence vacant which would have allowed Chelsea to progress up the pitch. This was addressed in the second half with a more compact shape and the introduction of Lucas Torreira.

Kante really thrived in this attacking responsibility as part of his box-to-box midfield role. He is notorious for his defensive work, but he showcased that he is a large skillset and can be used in varying roles. His movement off the ball, progressive dribbling and ball control were all reminiscent of an attacking player. However, the runs he was making left him higher up the pitch than usual which came at the expense of Chelsea’s defensive solidity.

Arsenal have success down the flanks

Arsenal weren’t as entertaining as Chelsea, but they were dangerous in the final third whenever they had the chance. Emery used Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan as inverted wingers with the full-backs staying out wide.

The movement of the wingers caused havoc in the Chelsea defence because they weren’t tracked properly due to players been unsure of whose responsibility it was. This left the Blues full-backs facing an overload, so they kept having success down the flanks.

Once the player on the wing made it to the byline, they focused on placing precise cut backs rather than whipping the ball across behind the defensive line. This had obviously been practised on the training pitch because there was synchronised movement with players keeping the defenders occupied by staying close to the goalkeeper and others moving towards the ball in order to create a pocket of space in the centre of the box.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan both had easy chances which were fired over the bar early in the match. However, Chelsea didn’t learn from their mistakes and the Armenian attacking midfielder punished them with a powerful low drive. Iwobi drew his team level not long after that after he drifted into the box and Mkhitaryan turned provider. They had less opportunities in the second half and Chelsea’s control of the game eventually led to Alonso scoring the winner.

The Chelsea wingers need to focus on their defensive work because it was too easy for some fluid movement from Arsenal to create huge problems for the defence. Leaving the full-backs isolated undid so much of their hard work in an attacking sense because it left their team exposed.