There did not appear to be a handshake between the two managers at the end, though let’s not read too much into that – it is too early for controversy. What a pre-season for Arsenal though – three trophies! Petr Cech celebrates in front of his new fans, and then follows it up with plenty of embracing with his former and current team-mates. “We suffered today, the pitch was not great,” Wenger says on TV. “This is a good basis going into the Championship.”
Arsenal were impressive – especially because they showed a steeliness that has too often been absent from their performances. Chelsea will not be too bothered – they were lacking in attack but as we said a few hours earlier, we will have pretty much forgotten about all of this by Saturday afternoon when the real action begins.
Still, how exciting that football is back. Thanks for reading and for your messages. Byeeeee!
FULL-TIME! Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
That’s it. Arsène Wenger defeats José Mourinho for the first time in 14 meetings.
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90 min +3: And from that Cazorla sends a glorious disguised pass forward to … Gibbs. His low side-footed effort (he should have tried a chip) is saved by the feet of Courtois.
90 min +3: Moses fouls Monreal from behind. And we enter the final minute with another arsenal free-kick.
90 min +1: Arsenal appear to be killing the game dead here. Cazorla has a free-kick 25 yards from goal. He hits it off the wall and wins a corner, ticking down another few precious seconds. It is taken short and Chelsea win the ball but are unable to break.
90 min: Four minutes to be added on!
90 min: Matic sends a cross in from the left but Falcao is penalised for leaping into Mertesacker, while Arteta is ground after taking a blow when leaping too.
89 min: Another Fàbregas free-kick is cleared but Chelsea come back at them again. Ivanovic is leading the line with Falcao!
88 min: Gibbs takes down Matic. It’s a foul but there’s some handbags after. Fàbregas, once more, delivers the dead ball and Ivanovic heads over – he should have been offside, too, but there was no sign of a flag.
86 min: Arsenal almost put it to bed with a rare break. Giroud holds it up, playing in Ramsey. He picks out Cazorla to his right. His effort is blocked, Ramsey’s rebound is deflected for a corner. Cazorla takes it but he only has two red shirts to aim for in the area and Chelsea are not troubled.
83 min: Gibbs’ first act is to fould Moses. Fàbregas to deliver from deep on the right. Chelsea have gone to a three-man defence for the final stages. Arsenal looking to pull down the shutters.
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81 min: Zouma crosses from the left but neither Oscar or Falcao can direct decent headers towards goal. Some action on both benches: Moses is on for Terry, Gibbs is on for Özil.
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80 min: Chelsea really turning up the heat now. Oscar, on the left, has a low cross cut out. But swathes of blue come right back at Arsenal who are pinned back.
79 min: Hazard is down in a heap after Monreal clips him from behind. Free-kick and last season’s player of the year will be fine to continue. Fàbregas sends in a dreadful free-kick with Terry and Cahill up from defence, failing to beat the first man.
77 min: And that was his final act. Mikel Arteta (remember him?) is on for the final 13 minutes.
76 min: Arsenal gain some respite. Ramsey squares to Oxlade-Chamberlain on the edge of the area but his deflected strike is simple for Courtois.
74 min: The corner is half cleared but Fàbregas puts a second ball in. Terry rises at the back post and heads across goal where Zouma is on hand. He cannot get enough power on his header and Cech collects.
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73 min: Victor Moses is warming up enthusiastically and looks to be almost ready for his introduction. On the pitch, Hazard finds Fàbregas who is fouled. In a hurry, he takes it instantly and picks out Willian to his right. The Spaniard runs ahead, takes a return pass and wins a corner off Koscielny.
72 min: But Chelsea are soon back on the attack. Giroud is the only red shirt in the blue half of the pitch now. But Arsenal remain comfortable in defence for the most part.
69 min: Kurt Happy Zouma is on for Azpilicueta. Cech needs two punches to clear the danger from the corner and Arsenal break from there …
68 min: Coquelin booked for fouling Oscar on the edge of the area. The Brazilian takes it. The ball heads for the top left corner and Cech is across to make a terrific save, turning the ball round the post for a corner.
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66 min: And within a minute Giroud has two half-chances, the first an awkwardly-positioned attempt at the rear stick following an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross, the second a long-range effort which was blocked by Cahill.
65 min: Olivier Giroud enters the fray, in place of Theo Walcott. He played an important part in the goal but has not done much apart from that.
61 min: A good chance for the hitherto muted Hazard. Fàbregas dinks a delightful pass over the Arsenal defence but Hazard’s first touch is poor and he smashes the second over the bar. He’d find the net from there more often than not.
60 min: In saying that, Falcao looks menacing after a long ball forward but Koscielny does just enough to fend him off.
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59 min: The ball is currently pinging back and forth between defences. Obviously, Chelsea will not be too fussed if they lose this but their lack of response to falling behind so far has been very disappointing.
57 min: Oscar, evidently eager to make a mark, cuts in after Falcao’s decoy run but the most recently introduced player scuffs his effort wide.
55 min: Ivanovic fires a long throw in but it is dealt with easily.
53 min: Ramires trots off, Oscar is on.
52 min: Coquelin spots Özil running off the shoulder off Ivanovic but his pass is a little too slow and fails to find the Germany player. Oscar is about to come on.
50 min: Ramsey neatly finds Cazorla who then tries to find Walcott, but the lone striker’s run fails to sync with the pass and Chelsea clear.
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48 min: Falcao starts encouragingly and has a curling shot from range blocked.
Restarted!
46 min: Arsenal get us going again and that Falcao change is the only one.
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The frankly awful Loïc Rémy is hooked at half-time and here comes Falcao!
Half-time! Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea
Well, well, well. Oxlade-Chamberlain’s goal separates the sides at the break.
44 min: Chelsea want a free-kick after Coquelin nudges Hazard over on the right. Probably a foul but play continues until Ivanovic goes down against Ramsey. A free-kick is indeed given for that, but Arsenal handle the delivery easily. We’ll have one additional minute.
42 min: Another scintillating break from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Özil, Cazorla and Bellerin cut the Chelsea midfield to ribbons with a lovely series of one-touch passes before picking out the goalscorer. His first touch is a little heavy but still sends a cross over Courtois and towards the back post. Ivanovic is on hand to clear under pressure from Monreal, however, and wins a free-kick for his troubles.
39 min: Apart from those two chances, Arsenal look quite an impressively cohesive defensive unit. Sure Chelsea have enjoyed a lot more of the ball but they are really struggling to bring Hazard into the game and Rémy has been poor.
36 min: Ramires goes even closer. Rémy stays just onside this time, run into space, cuts the ball back on to his right and floats in to the advanced midfielder who inexplicably misses the target from eight yards when unmarked, heading a yard over the bar.
33 min: Chelsea’s first chance of note. Bellerin gives the ball away cheaply in a dangerous position. Hazard picks up the loose ball and finds Ramires 25 yards out, who curls the ball around Koscielny but cannot bend it enough to creep into the bottom right corner.
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32 min: Matic picks out Willian unmarked on the left. He sends a low cross towards Hazard but he cannot connect sufficiently well enough and Arsenal get rid.
31 min: In a way that’s playing into Arsenal’s hands because on the occasions the ball breaks from the schoolyard-like play, Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain have space to exploit.
30 min: Chelsea continue to go about their business but the game in general remains very congested around midfield.
26 min: 506 minutes it took for Arsenal to score against Chelsea. From the restart Rémy is stupidly offside again. Don’t think Diego Costa will be too worried about his starting place on this evidence, though Falcao must be wondering when he’ll get a chance to shine.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (Oxlade-Chamberlain)
24 min: And the drought is over! The ball is worked down the left, Walcott drops deep centrally. He is not tracked and picks out a perfect pass to Oxlade-Chamberlain to his right. The England player cuts in, skips inside Azpilicueta and fires a ferocious effort past Courtois’ right.
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24 min: Özil finds Walcott and sends a good header from a difficult angle goalwards but it’s bread and butter for Courtois.
22 min: Five seconds after that free is taken, Cazorla is fouled by Ivanovic. This in dangerous territory though – and both Arsenal centre-halves have made their way forward.
21 min: Play restarts and both injured players are waved back on. Seconds after we restart, Ramires fouls Özil again. The free-kick is taken short and at present it’s like a schoolyard game with all players following the ball.
My colleague Tom Bryant has just come over to tell me it is now 500 minutes since Arsenal last scored against Chelsea. They are due one, I guess …
19 min: Cahill now has a bloody nose from that challenge – he looks to have hit his head on the ground after sliding in, but he’ll be fine once the blood flow is stopped. Meanwhile, Ramires’ boot accidentally clatters Özil in the chest, the whistle goes for a free-kick and Cahill and Özil will get some attention before we continue.
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17 min: Monreal gallops down the left. Willian tracks him but Gary Cahill has had enough of watching and wins the ball before clattering both players to the ground in proper old school centre-half style.
14 min: Another corner from Chelsea. It’s sent towards the near post and although it is initially cleared Chelsea pick up the afters in midfield and continue to pin Arsenal back. They have been unable to pick out a clinical pass thus far, mind, and Arsenal have yet to be really threatened defensively.
11 min: Chelsea win a corner off Bellerin but the ball in is cleared without much bother. Mourinho’s team beginning to take control of possession now, though … but just as I type that Fàbregas loses the ball to Ramsey and then takes the Welsh midfielder down. Free-kick.
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9 min: Mertesacker has taken down Fàbregas inside the area after a 50-50 challenge. Willian had poked the ball forward and both players went for it. Fàbregas got the first touch but the Germany defender nips in and is too strong, winning possession and then sending the Spaniard tumbling. Fàbregas makes much of it but, again sensibly, play continues until Petr Cech kicks the ball out for his former team-mate to get back to his feet.
7 min: Coquelin concedes a free-kick for a fired up challenge on Willian inside Chelsea’s half. Anthony Taylor has a word – after the ball comically comes off his head – but sensibly keeps his cards in his pocket despite a little bit of dissent.
6 min: Cazorla is down after Ramires plants some studs on him in a fiery collision. Didn’t seem to be any malice in the challenge and Cazorla picks himself up, shakes the pain off and is ready to continue.
4 min: Matic advances on the left but is cut out well by Bellerin on the edge of the area. Arsenal attempt to break and the ball reaches Walcott on the opposite flank. Terry is across to send the ball out for a throw.
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3 min: Chelsea settle down and calmly pass it around the back but when Willian dawdles in midfield, he is robbed of possession.
1 min: From the kick-off, Matic is dispossessed immediately by Walcott. Oxlade-Chamberlain sends a cross in from the right and Courtois punches clear. Good start from Arsenal. Petr Cech gets his first touch 10 seconds later, greeted by huge cheers from the Arsenal supporters.
Off we go!
1 min: Anthony Taylor blows his whistle and Chelsea, in blue, get us going from right to left as we watch. Arsenal are in red and white.
@alansmith90 Walcott starting ahead of Giroud - a pick for the day or a sign for the season to come?
— Marcus Ho Ho Ho (@mhoho17) August 2, 2015
The latter, I suspect – continuing on from the Real Cup final, of course.
Here come the teams. There are flames and other nonsense. The corporate seats are quite empty as sponsors and guests knock back the end of their wine and bottled beer (they don’t serve the cheese until half-time), but the actual fans’ areas are heaving – it’d be nice if they could build some sort of atmosphere instead of being drowned out by chart music.
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More of your emails …
Raymond Reardon:
At the 14th appearance of the fabled Punch and Judy Show, after 12 performances at the Stamford Bridge and Emirates Theatres and one in 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, will the latest edition at London’s iconic Wembley Theatre provide a different result to that of Judy being unable to convince Punch to stop mishandling the baby? In the 13 previous attempts rouge red Judy has become frustrated at her inability to overcome cool blue Punch and to get him to treat football “better”, and the same result is likely to be re-enacted again in this afternoon’s staging.
Michael Hunt:
Like automatically trying to walk to your old office, or… er… calling the wrong name, I did try to work out why all Chelsea’s players seemed wrong, naturally assuming the team staring with “Cech” was Chelsea in the team line-ups. This is going to take a while to get accustomed to…
Ian Copestake:
One thing Arsène has in his favour in his spat with José is that he remains svelte. No below the belt fat barbs or diet advice are going to work, so luckily the ire is raised to a completely different level of sophistication.
Boos for Cesc Fàbregas from some Arsenal fans as he warms up. But they are swiftly drowned out by the ludicrously loud Wembley sound system. Which will be played first – London Calling or some Muse dirge?
Sasu Laaksonen, in Lahti, Finland, has emailed …
Hey Alan,
Do you think the English media - that are famously softy, touchy, feely with everything José Mourinho - will be able to forgive Wenger his little dig at their professionalism?
I suggests some of Fleet Street’s finests will not forget that easily.
A) Preferential treatment from journalists to Mourinho is a famous myth. He is very quotable and manages the reigning champions – of course he is going to be more prominent than others.
B) Wenger has many fans within the press corps, too, you will find.
The teams
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal; Coquelin, Cazorla; Ramsey, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Walcott. Subs: Martínez, Debuchy, Gibbs, Gabriel, Arteta, Giroud, Iwobi.
Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Matic, Fàbregas; Ramires, Willian, Hazard; Rémy. Subs: Begovic, Zouma, Mikel, Oscar, Cuadrado, Moses, Falcao
Referee: A Taylor.
Petr Cech, as expected, starts for Arsenal, while Theo Walcott gets the nod up front instead of Olivier Giroud. One notable omission from the Chelsea team as Diego Costa is ruled out due to “discomfort in his hamstring”, Mourinho says, while Falcao starts on the bench as Loïc Rémy gets the nod.
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Preamble
Greetings! How has your summer been? Feeling refreshed? Good, so let’s get down to business. It’s time for Chelsea v Arsenal.
As Community Shields go, this has plenty of promise. Can José Mourinho continue his dominance over one of his many enemies, Arsène Wenger? “I will leave you and your love story with him to continue without interference,” Wenger said when asked about the Chelsea manager on Friday, refusing to chomp at the bait before a ball is kicked. But there must be a lingering feeling of dread over the Frenchman’s head. Could this finally be the day that he defeats a Mourinho team?
Indeed will Petr Cech be the difference against his former club? It still seems bizarre that Chelsea would let such an outstanding goalkeeper go to one of their main rivals. Yes, Thibaut Courtois is their No1 but Cech’s signing spawns memories of Jens Lehmann arriving at Highbury. And we all know what happened soon after that: Arsenal went the season unbeaten.
Then you have Falcao, looking to redeem himself from a pitiful season at Manchester United. Will he start instead of Diego Costa in a typical show of Mourinho insouciance? Can Mesut Özil, who according to Wenger could be a contender for player of the season, start with a bang? And how will Theo Walcott do now he’s earning an even more extortionate sum of money than before? So many questions and that is only the tip of the iceberg.
This, however, does not mean we should build it up as anything more than a final tune-up. No supporter worth his salt uses a plate handed out in August for bragging rights come the end of the season. If Arsenal had not won last season’s FA Cup, many would have condemned the season as trophyless – and, let’s face it, that is fair. Face it, you will have forgotten about this at 12.46pm Saturday.
Let us not dampen your new-season enthusiasm, though. Brace yourselves for goals, gibberish and quarrels. Get ready for minor incidents becoming major issues. Prepare for daily controversies for the sake of something to moan about on Twitter. And watch as your hopes and dreams die away by the the start of the school term. Yes, friends, football is back.
Kick-off: 3pm BST.
Teams: soon.
