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Chelsea continued their impressive start to the season with a 2-0 win away at London rivals Arsenal.
Romelu Lukaku was one of the stars of the show on his return to the club, scoring after just 15 minutes before having a helping hand in the build up to Reece James’ strike to effectively seal the result shortly before the break.
The hosts showed some signs of improvement in the second half but the Blues did well to protect their lead and cruise towards another three points, putting them joint top of the Premier League table alongside West Ham United and Liverpool.
Chelsea had previously lost their last three competitive meetings against Arsenal so were certainly more than happy to break the curse and secure the win.
It was a somewhat comfortable and straightforward triumph for the West London outfit with Arsenal failing to show any real threat, but how did Chelsea end the match as victors?
Lukaku’s physical presence
All eyes were on the Blues’ new number nine as he became the club’s new record signing last week with a fee reported to be around £97.5 million, and he certainly didn’t disappoint.
He was never able to truly make it in his first stint at the club but loan moves to West Bromwich Albion and Everton soon showed just how much potential the Belgian had. A permanent move to the Toffees and a huge transfer to Manchester United elevated him to one of the best in the business.
A league title win at Inter Milan in his second season at the club soon made him a target for Chelsea once again, with many believing he is now the final piece of the puzzle for the Blues.
It didn’t take long for him to make a real impact on his second debut.
With Ben White omitted from the Arsenal squad due to testing positive for Covid-19, Pablo Mari was brought in to replace him alongside Rob Holding at the centre of their defence. Chelsea used their typical 3-4-3 formation that saw the trio of Lukaku, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz upfront.
The visitors looked to utilise the strength of their Belgian striker. He was able to hold off the centre-backs with ease and create space for his fellow teammates to continue attacks, with the first goal showing just that.
Mateo Kovacic was able to find Lukaku a few yards outside the Arsenal box, which in turn drew the Gunners’ defenders out of position. A simple lay-off back to the Croatian midfielder presented an opportunity for Thomas Tuchel’s side to pounce on Arsenal’s lack of spatial awareness.
A lofted ball over the top of the defence found James in acres of space on the right-hand side of the box, who then proceeded to bring it down comfortably and pass it across the face of goal for Lukaku to tap the ball into the back of the net.
It was a well-crafted goal and the replays showed just how strong Chelsea’s new number nine is. He effortlessly held off Mari for the initial pass before making a storming run into the six-yard box, with the Spanish defender left tumbling to the ground in Lukaku’s shadow.
Even though the Arsenal defence were able to limit the Chelsea attack in the second half, the Belgian gave them a torrid time throughout the game simply due to his sheer physicality and presence upfront. Only a world-class save from Bernd Leno late on could deny the Belgian a second goal.
Using the width of the pitch
With Chelsea using two wing-backs on the pitch, they looked to stretch out the Arsenal defence when in attacking phases. Marcos Alonso retained his place on the left for the Blues while James came in for Trevoh Chalobah, with captain Cesar Azpilicueta moving to the right centre-back position.
As mentioned earlier with the first goal, James found himself with so much space on the right-hand side, his positioning and lack of marking from the Arsenal defence allowed him to create the killer pass to make it 1-0. This was a common theme throughout the game, with both wing-backs enjoying room to move on the flanks.
With Chelsea’s second, Alonso and Havertz enjoyed a good linkup on the left. The latter was able to fight off pressure from Cedric Soares and Albert Sambi Lokonga close to the byline before releasing the ball forward to his Spanish teammate.
Alonso’s in-field pass towards Lukaku saw an attempted interception from Granit Xhaka but it ended up in the path of Mount. A quick lookup from the Chelsea academy product allowed him to spot the run of fellow Cobham-raised star James who, once again, was in yards of space.
The Blues had switched from left to right of the pitch in a matter of seconds, with Kieran Tierney being dragged out of position and leaving his side of the defence wide open. Chelsea’s number 24 took advantage of the opportunity and fired his side into a 2-0 lead.
With the quality that Chelsea possesses in the wide areas of the pitch, it comes as no surprise that both goals were generated from those positions. Lukaku’s presence down the middle drew the defenders in, allowing the Champions of Europe to accommodate and control the flanks with ease.
Up next for Chelsea is a tough trip away to Liverpool which will truly test the potential of this team, with Lukaku going against Virgil Van Dijk in what looks to be an interesting battle. Arsenal face West Brom in the Carabao Cup before visiting reigning Premier League champions Manchester City at the weekend.
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