The game seemed set. But then came the fifteen minutes that demanded a nictotine fix for Sarri. ‘If we want to defend by looking only at the ball, we need to stay very compact and we need to press in the other half. In that 15 minutes, we were not able to do this. And so we were in trouble.’ When he complained about the collapse of the defensive shape, he made it clear he didn’t mean the back four, but that midfielders and attackers had stopped pressing effectively.
And so Mkhitarayn missed just as easy a chance as Aubameyang’s on 32 minutes; Willian then lost possession on 37 minutes, Iwobi recovered it, wriggled forwards and pulled the ball back for the Armenian to try again and this time score, making it 2-1. Kepa got a hand to it and should have made it a stronger, more decisive one.
Cech then saved from Morata before Bellerin broke down the right on 42 minutes, fed Mkhitaryan, whose pull back was turned in by Alex Iwobi for 2-2. Even then Arsenal had two further excellent chances before half time: Aubameyang steering and wastefully gently wide from close range 44 minutes and Iwobi turning over in added time. Arsenal, Alex Lacazette came on for Iwobi and Aubameyang went wide left. Briefly Arsenal looked more of a threat. Yet Lacazette would lose possession in the centre circle on 81 minutes. As Chelsea worked the ball forward, he attempted to trackback to help. When the ball reached Hazard, the Belgian simply drifted past him, found the by-line, pulled the ball back for the fast-approaching Alonso, who shot cleanly home for 3-2.
Hazard simply stood, raised his arms and grinned at The Shed End. The main celebrations were elsewhere with Alonso.
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