Arsenal 3 (2) v (0) 1 Chelsea
34 Lacazette (pen), 44 Xhaka 85 Abraham
56 Saka
Yellows: Mari, Tierney Thiago Silva
Played Saturday 26 December 2020 at The Emirates Stadium.
Covid-19 contacts in some players and indifferent form in others forced Arsenal to field their youngest starting X1 (average age 25 years and 42 days) to win a Premier League in the last 8 years. The result was more energy, enthusiasm to have the ball, endeavour and entertainment, and a score line which sees the Gunners looking up the table much to Manager Mikel Arteta’s relief. Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Chelsea’s young right fullback Reece James had brought down the home young left fullback Kieran Tierney. Granit Xhaka made some amends for his often undisciplined on the field behaviour with a spectacular 25 yards free kick just before half-time. Bukayo Saka added the third with, if it was intended as such, a spectacular chip-shot from the corner of the box.
In contrast the visitors Chelsea were lacklustre and lethargic throughout although another young player Tammy Abraham scored late on for them. It might have been more of a grandstand finish if Bernd Leno back in the Arsenal goal had not easily saved a weakly hit penalty by the Blues’ Jorginho after Mason Mount had been brought down by Pablo Mari. The month of January is named after the mythical beast Janus who guarded Hades the Underworld. He had two faces and could look two ways. Can Arsenal now stop looking down towards the hell of a relegation battle and up the table to Europe again, and will it be a new way of youth which takes them there?
Covid-19 will have the last word for 2020 as cases amongst Fulham players and staff led to the cancellation of their fixture with Tottenham Hotspur at short notice on 30 December. How much more the Premier League and PLDs matches will be affected is a big question.
So “Keep Safe”, remember “Hands, Face, Space”, for the weeks to come, Andrew at PLDs.