Arsenal's Victory over Chelsea: Keys to the Game Via Twitter

One of the greatest things about Twitter is how it brings together people, united by a common cause. In my case, its Arsenal Football Club. Through Twitter, I have connected with over 800 Arsenal fans from all over the world.

Known on Twitter as the "Gooner Family," Arsenal supporters stay in contact about the club regularly and often watch the games while sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

When Arsenal got off to a terrible start this season, the media were quick to bury the team and the word crisis was being thrown around regularly. Gooners on Twitter tried to keep each other's morale up and stay united behind their team.

Recently, Arsenal seem to have turned things around. Prior to this weekend's match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the Gunners had won seven of their last eight games. Regardless, going in to this match, most of the media predicted that Arsenal would lose.

Instead, Arsenal put on an impressive second-half performance and stunned Chelsea and their fans at Stamford Bridge with an emphatic 3-5 victory. The game got the "Twitterverse" buzzing.

Here are the keys to today's victory over Chelsea as tweeted by the "Gooner Family" on Twitter:

Improved Team Confidence and Higher League Position

@ArsenalRanter - "Much needed for many reasons; 1. Boosts team confidence 2. Moves us up to 6th, just 3 points off 4th place."

After a demoralizing 3-4 loss away to Blackburn last month, Arsenal sat in 17th place in the EPL table. It was the team's worst start to a season in 58 years. 

After today's victory at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal are up to sixth in the standings. It's clearly evident that the team is gelling, and that confidence continues to build.

Strong Performances from a Number of Players

@Tom91AFC - "#AR53NAL #CH3L5EA #vanP3RSIE #RAM53Y #KO5CI3LNY #ANDR3 5ANTOS"

@OrpingtonGooner - "First half we were poor defensively second half whole team superb LK has become world class even Santos impressed second half great effort."

While Robin van Persie was undeniably the man of the match, a number of Arsenal players made solid contributions in the victory.  Aaron Ramsey, Gervinho and Walcott ran Chelsea's defense ragged while Laurent Koscielny and Andre Santos tightened up the defense in the second half.

Robin van Persie Is on Fire

@Muzza_AFC  "Who else then? It's Robin van Persie! #CaptainVantastic #VanTheMan #COYG"

Robin van Persie's form has been nothing short of magnificent. He has taken the captain's armband and shown that he can lead Arsenal all on his own. His hat trick at Stamford Bridge follows braces in each of Arsenal's previous league matches versus Stoke and Sunderland.

The Attack Force of Van Persie, Gervinho and Walcott Is Looking Strong

@OleGunner - "Are we witnessing the emergence of Theo van Gersey"

Prior to the defections of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal fans used to call the team's attack force Theo Van Nasregas. This referred to the combination of Van Persie, Walcott, Fabregas and Walcott playing at the same time.

The partnership of Van Persie and Gervinho has been clicking and producing great results. Meanwhile, Walcott showed flashes of brilliance in today's game that could make Theo Van Gersey a regular part of Arsenal's lineup.

Robin van Persie Takes Advantage of John Terry's Slip

@KeithTheGooner - "HE SHOOTS! HE SCORES! WHILE TERRY'S ON THE FLOOR! VAN PERSIE! VAN PERSIE!! #AR53NAL"

@Nick_Palmer1988 - "Look on the bright side Terry, at least it wasn't a racist slip this time."

@southwestgooner -  "John Terry in new race issue ... just that this race was against Robin van Persie.”

After a week in which John Terry has been in the press and under fire for alleged racial abuse of QPR's Anton Ferdinand, he again made news for the wrong reasons.

Terry's first-half goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 halftime lead, but his slip in the 85th minute allowed van Persie to run clear on goal and put Arsenal ahead for good. 

The Twitterverse was abuzz with John Terry jokes, and of course, a number of Gooners came up with some good ones.

Andre Santos and a Tale of Two Halves

@Goonerere - "Really happy with the Santos goal, made up for a bad 1st half."

@ArsenalFCView - "Kudos to Santos. Absolutely magnificent in the second half. Most remarkable turn around I've ever seen. Frankly astonishing."

@emmetmcevoy - "Santos has scored as many goals for Arsenal in 2 months as Clichy did in 7 years."

Picked up at the end of the transfer window Brazilian defender Andre Santos has not made the smoothest transition to the EPL. His first-half performance, along with the rest of the defense, was shaky. It's unclear what sparked it, but Santos looked like a different player in the second half.

Moving like a striker, Santos slotted home the equalizer just four minutes after the restart. He even provided a bit of a samba dance to his celebration.

Defensively, he was solid and made a number of good tackles and blocks.

As one Gooner humorously tweeted, Santos has scored the same number of goals as the now departed Gael Clichy in a fraction of the time.

Theo Walcott's Amazing Goal

@GoonerPaulG - "Theo's goal. The way he got past Terry and Ivanovic was quality. Didn't know he had that in his locker."

Walcott ran the Chelsea defense ragged and made them look bad in the 55th minute. Running straight through two different challenges, Walcott fell, got up and still managed to fire home a shot that gave Arsenal the lead at the time 2-3.

Chelsea Looked Vulnerable Defensively

@RvPisCaptain - "Cech : WHERES THE BALL ?! Terry : For the fifth time i tell u IN YOUR NET ! Torres: What's a net?"

After continuously hearing about Arsenal's defensive frailties, it was Chelsea that looked the more disjointed throughout the match.

In a sad irony of sports, the once-heralded Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech, is now coming under fire as his team has not kept a clean sheet in the league since the first game of the season.

This tweet not only takes a swipe at Cech and Terry, but at striker Fernando Torres who has been sub par for Chelsea since his big money move from Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger Proving His Critics Wrong

@MimiGooner - "Arsene Wenger you genius!!! Most managers would have told players to sit tight & defend but not you! We killed them with counter attacks!"

@Linwood125 "I'm sorry Arsene. I look to have been wrong. Again. #TheArsenal"

Arsene Wenger has been the target of a lot of criticism this season as the Gunners got off to a terrible start and entered the transfer market at the last minute. A number of Arsenal supporters even turned on him and wanted him to be replaced as manager.

As if scripted by Hollywood, Arsenal's emphatic victory over Chelsea came just one day after he urged the team's supporters to keep the faith. Speaking at a gathering of shareholders, Wenger asked supporters to stay United.

"The way we can compete is to try to be intelligent. It is difficult enough if you are united. If you are not united, you have no chance. If I just would like to achieve one thing today it is to say ‘trust us’.” 

Arsenal Fans Were in Full Voice and the Players Showed Their Appreciation

@reznuk: #Arsenal : "Massive shout out for the Arsenal fans at the match - sang their lungs out all game - they were the only fans in it!"

@thierryiverson - "I love that celebration at the end! The captain gathered all the players & celebrated with the fans! 

Throughout the difficult start to the season, true Arsenal supporters have remained firmly behind their team. During the match, Arsenal fans could be heard singing for their squad loud and clear.

The victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was a big one, and the players were in a celebratory mood at the final whistle. Led by captain van Persie, the players headed to the section containing the Arsenal faithful and celebrated the result together.