10 Worst Players to Be on Winning Side in Chelsea-Arsenal Premier League Games
Arsenal fans worried about having to field Mathieu Flamini at the base of their midfield against Chelsea should calm down: some far worse players have emerged victorious in this particular fixture.
You don’t need 11 superstars to win a game. It’s possible to win a match carrying a passenger. What’s more, the heated atmosphere of a London derby can sometimes draw improved performances from otherwise underwhelming players.
In the Premier League era, Arsenal have won 18 matches while Chelsea have secured victory in 13. In this piece, we scoured through the team sheets from those games to find the 10 worst players who’ve finished up on the winning side.
In some cases, these players contributed significantly to the fixtures in question. However, those highs were anomalous in the course of their otherwise unspectacular careers.
Go to the next slide to begin the countdown.
10. Jose Bosingwa
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Jose Bosingwa arrived at Chelsea with a burgeoning reputation as an attacking right-back. However, his star faded after his arrival in west London. He eventually went on to join QPR, where he sparked rage from fans and team-mates after being captured smiling after the team’s relegation from the Premier League was sealed in April 2013.
Nevertheless, he still started for Chelsea in a thumping 4-1 win over Arsenal in May 2009.
9. Pascal Cygan
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Pascal Cygan’s ponderous performances at centre-back are the stuff of legend at Arsenal.
However, his lack of pace didn’t prevent him being involved in some momentous moments. For example, he started and starred in the famous 5-1 win over Inter Milan at the San Siro.
He also made a late cameo in a win over Chelsea in October 2003.
8. Remi Garde
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Before Arsene Wenger even arrived at Arsenal, he requested the acquisition of two French midfielders: Patrick Vieira and Remi Garde.
The former went on to become an Arsenal captain, Invincible and legend. The latter’s playing career disappeared in to obscurity.
Still, he did start in a 3-0 win over Stamford Bridge in April 1997.
7. Andre Santos
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Andre Santos left Arsenal under a cloud after the incident which saw him swap shirts at half-time with Robin van Persie.
However, things weren’t always so fraught between Santos and the Arsenal fans. In October 2011, he scored a fantastic counter-attacking goal to help Arsenal on their way to a famous 5-3 win away to Chelsea.
6. Stephen Hughes
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Stephen Hughes was once perceived as one of the most exciting prospects at Arsenal. However, injuries saw his fortunes tail off. He was eventually sold to Everton, and the trajectory of his career never recovered. Whilst the talent was there, it would be difficult to argue he had a successful career.
He still had some highlights, including scoring both goals in 1998’s 2-0 win over Chelsea at Highbury.
5. Paolo Vernazza
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Like Stephen Hughes, Paolo Vernazza was a prodigious talent who failed to fulfill his potential. After starting off at Arsenal, he eventually wound up playing for Bishop’s Stortford.
Vernazza featured in Arsenal’s remarkable 3-2 win over Chelsea in October 1999, in which Kanu scored a spectacular hat-trick. He was introduced as a late substitute for Marc Overmars to help see out the victory.
4. Eddie McGoldrick
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Eddie McGoldrick was the sort of uninspiring player who typified the Arsenal midfield over the early to mid-1990s. That didn't stop him playing 90 minutes in a 1-0 win back in April 1994.
3. Kaba Diawara
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Kaba Diawara failed to score an Arsenal goal in his brief spell with the club. He did, however, make it on to the field during the Gunners’ 1-0 win over Chelsea in January 1999.
2. Frank Sinclair
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Frank Sinclair was the master of the own goal. The Jamaican international managed to score for the wrong team six times in the course of his career.
Nevertheless, he managed to see through the 1-0 win over Arsenal in March 1993 without putting the ball through his own net.
1. Andy Myers
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Arsenal should be embarrassed that a defence including Andy Myers kept a clean sheet against them in September 1995.
Myers was a notoriously unreliable defender, yet on that occasion he mustered the wherewithal to keep Arsenal at bay in a 1-0 win for Chelsea.
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