Chelsea V Arsenal Through the Years: Five Classic Meetings

The pain is the same. Both the London clubs have been humiliated though in light of other reasons.

Chelsea's loss Manchester City ended their dream start to the season and also cast doubt on their ability to defeat stronger teams. Ancelotti will not be a happy man at all after yesterday's loss. City playing without most of their first-choice defenders managed to keep the clean slate as well as forge out victory. The Blue boys will be looking to recover from their slump and end all doubts.

Arsene Wenger watched in horror as his side squandered away their chances of cutting Chelsea's lead at the top and shockingly lost to EPL newcomers West Brom. The Gunners' took the field knowing that a win could help them reduce the gap at the top of the table. But they seemed lethargic and poor on the field. If not for the inspired performance from Samir Nasri the Emirates' outfits would have lost shamefully 3-0. Wenger's boys will be looking to redeem themselves from the shameful defeat.

Over the years' the clash of London's two biggest clubs has turned into a mouth-watering fixture for Premier League followers. The rivalry is one of the classic derbies in EPL.

When Chelsea visit Arsenal next weekend, they will be looking to overcome their frustrating defeat to Manchester City and repeat last year's performance against the Gunners.

In the following slides we will look into five classic Chelsea vs Arsenal matches in recent history.

Final Fracas : Carling Cup Final 2007

Arsenal and Chelsea players involved in fracas

Perhaps the worst meetings of the two clubs in their history.

A mouth-watering final was expected when the two sides met for the final at the Millennium Stadium. But what occurred at the end of the game was just a miserable memory for all watching the game.

The game had shown ample promise during the first-half when Chelsea equalised through Drogba after Abou Diaby had scored his first goal for the Gunners.

But in the second-half things started turning ugly and after Chelsea captain John Terry had been injured seriously referee Howard Webb lost control. It started turning into a rugby match. Amidst the troubles Drogba scored the winner for Chelsea.

Things got out of hand in the stoppage time as Chelsea's John Obi Mikel entered into a shoving match with then Arsenal defender Kolo Toure. The players joined in and turned into a 22-man scuffle leading to Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Chelsea's Mikel being given marching orders.

Chelsea won the bitterly fought final and lifted the Carling Cup.

Chelsea Vs Arsenal, 1999 : Kanu Smashes Chelsea

These match between the London rivals perhaps witnessed one of the greatest comebacks in footballing history and maybe the greatest hattrick of all times.

The Gunners' had been trailing league leaders Manchester United. Their title dreams looked to be in tatters as Chelsea were 2-0 up within 75 minutes and Arsenal were staring at defeat. The Blues' had taken their lead courtesy Flo and Francescu and were comfortably staring at victory.

But then rose the Nigerian Kanu, who had a relatively poor match until that time. He seemed to be possessed as he scored a historic hattrick in the blitzkrieg 15-minutes. Chelsea seemed baffled by what they were witnessing. Nwankwo Kanu's hattrick not only ensured victory but also took him to the history books.

The hattrick was more spectacular because of the minutes left and the shock value it beared. The jaw-dropping performance from the Nigerian took him to new heights of fame and stardom.

Chelsea on their part thereafter failed to defeat the Gunners at home up until 2005.

The match is one of the spectacular matches of all-time and is worth watching over and over again, especially for Kanu's 15-minute blitzkrieg.

Champions League Quarterfinal, 2004 : A Classic Worth Watching

Perhaps a classic match of all-time. The match was summed up in two snaps. Wayne Bridge's last-gasp winner and Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri's picture of tears and joy at the final whistle.

The Blues' were trailing 1-0 at half-time after Gunner's Jose Antonio Reyes had scored the opener in the last minutes of the first half. Chelsea equalised through a Frank Lampard effort and then Wayne Bridge's winner in the dying moments of the match ensured victory for Ranieri's men.

The Blues' who had earlier failed four times to defeat Wenger's Invincibles in the 2003/04 season registered their win in a dramatic late finish and ensured further progress in the Champions League.

2002 FA Cup Final : Wenger's Boys Gets Their Goal

Wenger's squad had lost out on the 2001 FA Cup final to Liverpool and they were full of determination to earn that honors next year.

The then in-form Gunners faced Claudio Ranieri's million-dollar team in the 2002 FA Cup Final. The Blues' were struggling in the league and were staring at another unsuccessful season.

A classic long-range goal by Ray Parlour and another brilliant individual effort by Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljunberg a few minutes later ensured victory for Wenger's boys and also half-of their domestic double that season.

Though Chelsea dominated most part of the game an injured Hasselbaink failed to put the finishing touches and further added to their misery. Arsenal delivered a very poor performance and only those two moments of individual brilliance ensured them victory.

It will be one of the matches that will stay in Gunners' memory for a long time to come.

Arsenal Vs Chelsea, 2009 : Drogba Digs Arsenal Grave

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 07: Didier Drogba of Chelsea celebrates scoring the first goal of the game by kissing his badge during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on February 7, 2010 in London, England. (P

Chelsea's talismanic striker Didier Drogba has been a pain for Arsenal since his arrival and he did not disappoint this time too as he heaped further misery to Wenger's boys.

Arsenal were in the race for the title and a victory could have boosted their chances further. But they were outplayed, outsmarted and outwitted by the Chelsea juggernaut, who thereafter went on to be crowned EPL champions.

Ancelotti's men delivered a brilliant overall performance to thrash Arsenal into humiliation. Their grit, power, pose and quality finishing was too hot for the young Gunners to handle as Drogba ensured Arsenal's exit from the race.

After an own goal by Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen and another brilliant volley from Drogba had given the Blues'  a comfortable 2-0 lead, Drogba's powerful free-kick just ended the match and nailed Arsenal's title dreams as Wenger looked his baby boys being simply outpaced and out-powered by Chelsea's strong men.

It was another night of frustration and humiliation for Wenger's boys at the hands of Chelsea.

This season Drogba has been on fire along-with Malouda and plenty others. Wenger will be hoping that Drogba does not repeat another brilliant performance against his now-known injury plagued team and heap further misery.