Arsenal vs Chelsea: Blues rally to stun Gunners 2-1 in London derby

Chelsea's English striker Tammy Abraham (C) celebrates scoring their second goal to take the lead 1-2 during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London on December 29, 2019. (Photo by Ian KINGTON / IKIMAGES / AFP)


Chelsea rallied to stun Arsenal 2-1 in the London derby in the ongoing English Premier League at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

A late goal each from Jorginho and Tammy Abraham cancelled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 13th-minute header which had put the Gunners ahead as Chelsea kept Mikel Arteta longing for his first win as Arsenal manager.

Aubameyang was on the scoresheet when a perfect corner from Mesut Ozil saw Arsenal defender Calum Chambers flicking the delivery to find Aubameyang who reacted faster than any Chelsea players and gave his team the lead.

Arsenal were the better team for the rest of the half as they cut open the visiting team’s defence on several occasions and came close to earn themselves a penalty. However, Chelsea seemed comfortable in the last 10 minutes of the first half but the break did wonders to them and they appeared a different team in the next half.

“We were so awful for 30 minutes — slow, lethargic, nervous. The opposite of against Tottenham. We gave Arsenal everything they wanted. We made the change early as we felt it had to be done. Second half we dominated,” Efe news quoted Chelsea coach Frank Lampard as saying after Sunday’s match.

After a flurry of attack from the word go, Chelsea’s efforts were finally paid off when Jorginho scored from an unmarked position off a corner from Mason Mount in 83rd minute.

The winner came within another four minutes when a failed Arsenal effort allowed Abraham to conduct a counter-attack. He off-loaded the ball to Willian, who did all the hard work to beat the defenders and get it delivered back to the striker. Abraham then produced one of his cleanest finishes of the season to put Chelsea ahead dramatically.

“It was very cruel the way we lost it, in the first half we saw a lot of positives and saw what we are trying to implement. But the way we conceded was disappointing. It was clear why it was disappointing, I don’t need to say any more,” Arsenal manager Arteta said.

Chelsea are still hanging onto fourth place in the Premier League standings, but Manchester United, the No. 5 club in the standings, is turning up the heat.

Lampard’s Londoners had three losses and just one win in its last four outings and faced a must-win situation against the Gunners at London’s Emirates Stadium.

Up next for Arsenal is Manchester United on New Year’s Day at home, while Chelsea will be on the road against Brighton on the same matchday.

(With inputs from IANS)