Man Utd Redux: Arsenal Falls Further Back

Simply put, it was a repeat of last weekend. Let Arsenal have the ball, make them labour around the pitch, hassle & press with discipline, and hit on the counter with your speedy forwards. And Anelka and Drogba sure are speedy.

If there was one player who Arsenal wouldn't like to see line up against them, it would be Didier Drogba. The Ivorian now has 12 goals in 12 matches against Arsenal...

In actual fact, Arsenal had the territorial superiority in the mid-field, but two shots by Drogba well before 30 minutes were up pretty much sealed the tie. All Chelsea had to do after that was to sit back and defend. Which wasn't going to be much of a problem, given their obvious physical advantage.

All too easily were the Gunners shrugged off the ball, with even the light-weight Ashley Cole easily winning tackles. I didn't see a single 50-50 challenge being won by Arsenal. All crosses into the box were ineffective, and Chelsea were easily able to break up the passing of Arsenal—a kick here, a pull of the shirt there, all little fouls taught by Ancelotti to disrupt the flow.

Given the athletic nature of the Chelsea team, there was also no chance of Arsenal outlasting Chelsea.

Tactically, Wenger brought in Walcott for a rare start, but he was handled very easily by Cole, and never got (or was given) a single opportunity to run at the defence. Another poor game for the youngster.

I would've thought that with Theo's lack of success out wide, maybe Arsenal should have switched positions, with Walcott moving cental, Nasri on the right, and Arshavin left. That rearrangement actually happened only past the hour, with Bendtner replacing Walcott, who again had a bad day at the office.

Nasri in particular was good—creative, fighting, and always up to try and make things happen. Arshavin was full of spark too, but somehow there seems to be a little lack of connection on the field between him and other players. It is becoming more and more obvious now, and that is a problem that must be fixed.

While Arsena's midfield generally dominated the centre of the pitch in terms of territory, it didn't amount to much. The engine that is Fabregas could only huff and puff, but couldn't bring the Chelsea goal down. Others were competent and put in their best—unfortunately, it wasn't good enough.

Overall though, I don't think it was really a surprise result. Although Cech was the busier keeper, Arsenal didn't have the striking quality to cause any significant damage.

And with this match, Arsenal have scored just once in the last three games, and earned only one point of nine.

For the statistically inclined folks—Arsenal are no longer top scorers. That position is now held by Manchester United, and we are tied in second place with Chelsea.

Worryingly, Liverpool are creeping up the table. If we don't get a result against them in mid-week, we could see ourselves fighting to keep third place, instead of challenging for honours.

Keep the faith folks—still 13 games to go...