Arsenal 1 Chelsea 1 (Arsenal won 4-1 on penalties)
Seventy-one days after Arsenal defeated Chelsea to win FA Cup final at Wembley they were at it again with a performance that once again displayed a combination of resilience and ruthlessness. Having fallen behind to Victor Moses’s 46th-minute strike Arsenal could quite easily have crumbled against opponents who for so long had caused them grief but instead they kept going and, as was the case in May, found a way back via Saed Kolasinac’s late equaliser.
That took this match into penalties and, via the new Fifa-approved ABBA system, Arsenal triumphed 4-1 with their collective joy erupting after Olivier Giroud had rammed the decisive spot-kick past Thibaut Courtois.
Alexis Sánchez scored after only four minutes when these sides met in the FA Cup final. There was no chance of the Chilean repeating that feat given he was at Wembley but not part of Arsenal’s matchday squad. That was perhaps not a great surprise given he returned to training only last Tuesday following a combination of being involved in the Confederations Cup and struggling with illness.
It was impossible, however, not to read more into Sánchez’s non-involvement given the persistent talk surrounding his future, but if there was indeed more to it then his team-mates certainly did not initially appear affected. As was the case in May, it was Wenger’s side who began the contest with greater desire and intent.
Lined-up again in a 3-4-2-1 formation, those in red and white pressed Chelsea back and used possession quickly and efficiently, opening up their opponents as early as the sixth minute when Alex Iwobi drove into the area and delivered a cross that caused minor panic among those in blue. A minute later, Danny Welbeck forced Courtois into a save and the Belgium was required to act again shortly after, this time keeping out Iwobi's close-range shot following good link-up play with Mohamed Elneny.
Chelsea were being suffocated and it did not help the champions’ cause that when they were given the time and space to make an impact on proceedings their approach play was sloppy and inaccurate, with Michy Batshuayi an almost completely non-existent presence as their lone centre forward.
Watching on from the bench, Alvaro Morata must have sensed he would be called upon sooner rather than later to make his first appearance for Chelsea in this country following his €65 million arrival from Real Madrid.
Two minutes later Arsenal had their best chance of the match to that point, a curling drive from their own costly new forward Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman hit a post with a curling drive following swift build-up playing involving Hector Bellerin and Welbeck and it seemed only a matter of time before the FA Cup holders opened the scoring. Chelsea boss Antonio Conte certainly appeared wary of their possibility, cutting a deeply agitated figure on the touchline.
Perhaps alerted by their manager's frustrations, Chelsea began to show some authority and twice in quick succession forced Petr Cech into reaction saves, first to keep out Moses and then a stinging drive from Pedro, who was playing in a mask having being involved in a collision with David Ospina during the champions' 3-0 friendly win against Arsenal in Beijing last month.
Chelsea continued to push forward and on 37 minutes felt they deserved a penalty after Willian went down inside the area following a challenge from Bellerin. The referee, Bobby Madley, thought otherwise and instead booked the Brazilian for diving, a somewhat harsh decision given Bellerin's knee clearly made with Willian's left leg as he surged into the area.
Conte and his players’ mood changed a minute after the break when Moses struck.
It came after Kolasinac, on as a 32nd-minute substitute for Per Mertesacker after he sustained a nasty cut above his right eye following a clash with Gary Cahill, failed to fully clear a right-sided corner. Cahill dropped the ball back into space inside Arsenal's area with a deft header and Moses did the rest, running from an onside position before lashing an unstoppable drive past Cech.
It was poor defending from Arsenal, with Mertesacker's absence a likely contributing factor. Credit should be given to Wenger's side, however, for not collapsing and instead pushing forward aggressively in search of an equaliser. Elneny tested Courtois with a fiercely hit cross-cum-shot before Welbeck forced David Luiz into a last-ditch tackle.
Soon after the hour Wenger made a double substitution, bringing Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott on for Lacazette and Iwobi, before Conte made his own eye-catching change on 73 minutes, bringing Morata on for Batshuayi. And the Spaniard had an almost immediate effort on goal – a near post shot that sailed harmlessly over the bar.
On 80 minutes came the turning point. Pedro was sent off after catching Elneny on the Achilles with a studs-up tackle and from the resulting free-kick, taken by Granit Xhaka, Kolasniac equalised with a close-range downward header after drifting unmarked into space. Cue penalties.
Gary Cahill scored for Chelsea before Walcott did the same for Arsenal. Nacho Monreal made it 2-1 for the FA Cup holders before then came the surprising appearance of Courtois as the next taker. He thrashed his drive over the bar, becoming the second goalkeeper to miss a penalty in the Community Shield after David Seaman,and when Morata also missed with a low drive that clipped the post, the writing was on the wall. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made it 3-1 to Arsenal and Giroud did the rest.
(Guardian service)
