Chelsea beating Arsenal is the best possible result on a football pitch. The team you love beating the team you hate, has to be the best thing in football. And when that happens at Emigrants and when the result happens to be 3-0 and when you see the goner fans walking out of the stadium and on their players with 10 minutes to go, has to be some sight. What a match it was! Glad I had the sense to hit the ‘record’ button right at the kick off. Now I can see Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Emigrants as many times as I want.

If you’ve watched the match today, you see that’s the difference between contenders and pretenders. Chelsea absolutely murdered Arsenal and just cut them to size and put them in their place. Today’s Chelsea performance was just champions’ stuff. We had the depth in the team, the high quality of players, the incredible focus until the final whistle and more than anything, the maturity and experience. We had a clear penalty turned down and there was an incorrect offside call – both of which could have turned into goals. To beat the goners 5-0 on their patch would have been just heaven. Let’s leave something for the next time.

Chelsea played like they had always knows Arsenal’s next move on the pitch. I’ve always said that Arsenal’s football is very predictable. What matters to them is how well they are able to execute those predictable moves – that depends on how they play and how the opponent plays. Today, Chelsea played with such anticipation and composure, it was really a treat to watch. Still, I don’t think we played at our best. We lost possession many time very uncharacteristically. Our decision making upfront was not very sharp. Still, we had played well enough to beat Arsenal 3-0 at Emigrants (I’m just making the best use of my bragging rights, allright?).

I’m struggling to pick the man of the match. Didier Drogba is the easy choice but there was Ashley Cole, John Terry and Nicolas Anelka too. But purely because he had a role to play in all the goals, it has to be Drogba. The first goal was just beautiful. Ashley Cole beating a man and delivering a deadly cross was lovely enough. Then came Drogba who was the quickest to react, with his top class finish. Drogba had a role to play in the second goal too. When Ashley Cole managed to send another identical cross Gallas and Vermaelan were visibly nervous and badly wanted to keep the ball out of Drogba’s reach. I heard Vermaelan just doesn’t stop scoring. How true!

Drogba vs Arse
When the short free kick was awarded, I was sure of two things – Drogba would take it and he would bloody score. Just when Drogba was getting ready to blast it, I clearly knew that he would be going for the farthest point in the far post. Anyone who has watched Drogba’s free kick goals would know that. He does not try curving the ball in and all that. He just blasts it in. I was surprised that Arsenal did not prepare for it. Ah, that’s Chelsea being Chelsea and Arsenal being Arsenal. That’s Drogba’s 9th goal against Arsenal in 11 matches and he has never been on the losing side to Arsenal. They just can’t figure out how to handle him.

On 3rd Dec 2006 (yes, 2006), I wrote this article ‘10 reasons why Arsenal are crap now‘. You’ll see that most of those 10 reasons are still valid, even after three years. Arsenal have not progressed at all. After three full years, it’s great to see that I got it right so early. Either I’m a great visionary or Arsene Wenger is certainly. I think it’s both.

So we have now beaten Liverpool, Man Utd (twice), Tottenham and Arsenal. How’s that for a first-season record! Good job Carletto! We are now 5 points clear of Man Utd and 11 points clear of Arsenal and 13 points clear of Liverpool. We have the best goal difference in Europe probably, at this point of time. Our goal difference of 28 is far superior to any other in the premier league and is way better than the goal difference leaders in other leagues at this stage. The December matches are Man City(A), Everton (H), Portsmouth (H), West Ham (A), Birmingham (A) and Fulham (H). There are 18 points to be played for, before the African Cup of Nations begins. If we can 15 points out of that 18, we will firmly be on top of the table before the Africans leave.

We are a class apart from our rivals. They are all afraid, very afraid. Chelsea are now the unstoppable team, the team to beat, the best team in the league. We have very clearly moved from a state of hope to a state of expectation. We are now expected win the title. The odds are being shortened. The pundits say that it is now Chelsea’s title to lose. I don’t wanna get so cocky but even with extreme humility I have to say this is gonna be our season. Get in there!