Van Persie’s killer touch

Arsenal had superior endurance in the match and many things fell into place for the manager, Arsene Wenger, writes Kevin McCarra.

This is proving an unforgettable season for Arsenal. Fans would prefer not to be carrying around recollections of losses to Hull and Stoke, but there are also memories to cherish. This victory is a companion piece to the win over Manchester United at the Emirates three weeks ago. The mightier the opposition the better the prospects for Arsene Wenger’s squad.

If Arsenal were in crisis then the anguish has now passed to Luiz Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian does have his grievances since the visitors’ equaliser, the first of Robin van Persie’s goals, should have been ruled offside. Scolari’s Chelsea had already seen Liverpool take three points at Stamford Bridge, to say nothing of defeat by Burnley in the League Cup, before the arrival of Arsenal.

All the same, there is sympathy for the manager. In part, he is a victim of changing times. This is no longer a club of unlimited resources. So long as the fitness of the presently suspended Didier Drogba is in question, Scolari has, in Nicolas Anelka, a single proven striker at his disposal.

He would have no complaints about the presence here of Michael Ballack, Deco and Frank Lampard as his attacking midfielders, but the Englishman, at the age of 30, was the youngest of them. If there was to be zest, it had to emanate from the overlapping right-back Jose Bosingwa. The January transfer market commonly proves barren for managers but it also appears, in any case, that Scolari would have to raise funds by offloading players.

It is a little while since Arsenal’s circumstances were enviable, but the energy of youth was an asset here. Although they are not yet at the same standard as some streamlined predecessors, it is this batch that has delivered their club’s first win on this ground since the ‘invincible’ season of 2003-04. The circumstances in which that was achieved rankle with Chelsea.

Scolari is normally gracious and he embraced Wenger at the end, but he also deplored the officials. With the score at 0-0, a tight call after five minutes went against Salomon Kalou wrongly and there would have been less sympathy with a linesman’s erroneous verdict on Van Persie in the 59th minute.

He was behind the defence when Denilson set him up in a move that had also involved Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas. The Dutchman kept his mind fixed on the task and lashed a shot home with his weaker right foot.

Chelsea were dismayed and fragile. Three minutes later, Adebayor knocked down a Fabregas set-piece and Van Persie drilled the ball past the left hand of Petr Cech. For all we know, the deposed captain William Gallas could conceivably develop a soft spot for the Dutchman.

Van Persie’s execution had been unanswerable at each goal, but the opposition’s concentration did wobble at the clincher. While that would hitherto have been classified as an aberration for Chelsea, minds currently seem to have a habit of wandering. During the midweek draw in Bordeaux, Lampard and John Terry lost concentration at critical moments.

Arsenal had superior endurance in the match. They bore the concession of a markedly stupid opener in the 31st minute. Manuel Almunia, attempting a quick throw-out, hurled the ball too far. The visitors, unexpectedly, were at immediate risk. With devastating fluency, Chelsea’s Bosingwa linked with Mikel John Obi and Anelka before having possession returned to him. His lethal low cross was turned into his own net by Johan Djourou.

After all that has afflicted Arsenal in this campaign, they could have slithered into defeatism. It is to their credit that there was no such despair, but Chelsea also nursed the revival by being so colourless. Anelka drew a blank here as the realisation grew that his prolific efforts until now have masked limitations. Scolari did not have another credible finisher in attack.

That accounts, in some degree, for the fact that, at home, they have a solitary point to show for their three home fixtures against English representatives in the Champions League. Even that draw had come when Manchester United were in sight of victory at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal closed off all the escape routes here.

Both clubs have their injury problems, but it was Chelsea who were compelled to give a debut to a 19-year-old when the Slovakian Miroslav Stoch took over from Deco. That was a desperate step for a manager, yet Scolari felt it worth taking.

It was notable that Almunia had very little to do over the course of the afternoon. Cech had more to concern himself with even though Chelsea looked the sounder team. There were saves to make then, with a possibility that Gallas might break the deadlock in the 14th minute. The centre-back did not connect when Cech beat out a Samir Nasri attempt in his direction.

The former Chelsea player, though, carried out his regular duties perfectly. Perhaps it will suit Gallas that he no longer bears the armband, because he has always seemed too quirky and erratic figure for that role. Many things fell into place for Wenger.

THE RESULTS

November 30: Chelsea 1 (Djourou o.g. 31) lost to Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 59 & 62). Half-time: 1-0; Manchester City 0 lost to Manchester United 1 (Rooney 42). Half-time: 0-1; Portsmouth 3 (Crouch 49, Defoe 53, Davis 79) bt Blackburn 2 (Derbyshire 62, Kerimoglu 67). Half-time: 0-0; Tottenham 0 lost to Everton 1 (Pienaar 51). Half-time: 0-0.

November 29: Aston Villa 0 drew with Fulham 0; Middlesbrough 0 drew with Newcastle 0; Stoke 1 (Fuller pen-73) drew with Hull 1 (King 45+2). Half-time: 0-1; Sunderland 1 (Cisse 11) lost to Bolton 4 (Taylor 18, Cahill 21, Elmander 39 & 55). Half-time: 1-3; Wigan 2 (Camara 61, Boyce 87) bt West Brom 1 (Miller 47). Half-time: 0-0.

November 24: Wigan 1 (Camara 51) bt Everton 0. Half-time: 0-0.