Premier League with victory over Arsenal as Arsene
Wenger's winless streak against Jose Mourinho was
extended to 12 games.
The old adversaries squared up in an ugly first-half moment
when Wenger shoved Mourinho in the chest in Chelsea's
technical area after Gary Cahill's challenge on Arsenal
forward Alexis Sanchez.
A semblance of order was restored although the tension still
resurfaced - but as so often, it was Mourinho who had the
last word with a win that puts the Blues five points ahead of
second-placed Manchester City.
Eden Hazard's first-half penalty put them on their way after
he was fouled by Laurent Koscielny, while Diego Costa's
ninth goal in seven games since his £32m summer move
from Atletico Madrid wrapped up the win.
This never threatened to be a repeat of Chelsea's 6-0
thrashing of Arsenal in March that marred Wenger's 1,000th
match in charge of the Gunners, but there was rarely a
moment when his side threatened to end his dismal
sequence against Mourinho as they suffered their first
league loss of the season.
The home side may not have produced the flamboyant
football that has featured in some of their play this season,
but the old steel at the back is still in evidence and, in Costa
and former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, they have
acquired a potent partnership.
Costa's goalscoring has caught the eye but the wonderful
raking pass from Fabregas that set up the second goal
silenced the taunts aimed from the visiting fans and was his
seventh Premier League assist of the season.
It was the crowning moment of a Chelsea performance that
was ruthlessly efficient and sounded an ominous note to
those hoping to stop Mourinho reclaiming the Premier
League title this season.
Chelsea even survived the early loss of goalkeeper Thibaut
Courtois, who was taken off before half-time and replaced
by Petr Cech after taking a bang on the head in a collision
with Sanchez, with the Belgian taken to hospital as a
precaution.
Courtois's problems started when he raced out to beat
Sanchez to a through ball and there was an accidental clash
between the pair - the young goalkeeper recovered after
being flat out but was unable to complete the half, the
Chelsea medical team eventually signalling to Mourinho that
he need to be replaced.
If the action on the pitch took time to get going, there was no
time-wasting between Mourinho and Wenger as their
obvious personal animosity quickly boiled over.
Wenger took exception to Mourinho giving his view on
Cahill's tackle on Sanchez, marching menacingly into the
Chelsea technical area before giving his counterpart a very
clear two-handed shove in the chest.
Mourinho, not surprisingly, was unimpressed and it took the
intervention of fourth official Jon Moss to at least restore a
small measure of calm between the pair.
Arsenal had acquitted themselves well without putting
Chelsea under serious pressure, but were unlocked by the
pace and trickery of Hazard to go behind after 27 minutes.
Koscielny had no other answer to the Belgian's run into the
area than to stick his leg out and bring him down, with
Hazard recovering his poise to score from the spot.
Chelsea, while not being at their best, had restricted Arsenal
to the extent that the visiting attacking threat was non-
existent, but the Gunners had a genuine grievance when
Fabregas stopped Jack Wilshere's shot from the edge of the
area with raised arms just after the hour, only for referee
Martin Atkinson to remain unmoved.
And while Chelsea were resolute in defence, there remained
the ever-present threat of Costa. He had barely been in the
game but pounced to put the match out of Arsenal's reach
with 12 minutes left.
Fabregas, as he has been so often this season since joining
Chelsea from Barcelona in the summer, was the creator, as
a long pass sent Costa beyond Arsenal's defence to lift a
finish over Wojciech Szczesny.
