El Mundo Sports

Didier Drogba was a man among boys, scoring both goals in the first half of Chelse’s game against Arsenal. But John Terry was the story, and he seemed a bit humble. Terry headed a corner over to Drogba for the first goal, but Terry didn’t celebrate emphatically. He was happy, but it seemed as if he had other things on his mind. It’s obvious he did after the scandal with England, and former Chelsea, teammate Wayne Bridge. I’m still a little confused about the whole incident actually because supposedly Terry slept with Bridge’s ex girlfriend. Terry is married. Bridge has a 3-year old child with the woman. But the real question is whether Terry slept with her while she was still with Bridge. The whole incident caused Terry to lose the captain’s armbands for England. Anyway, another story for another time.

Both teams started brightly, but Arsenal was caught on their heels a couple of times that led to the first two goals. The second one was especially painful as the Gunners were taking the game to the Blues. Chelsea midfielder, Frank Lampard, stole the ball and brought up on a quick counter attack. He quickly passed it to Drogba, who cut inside Thomas Vermelean, and quickly blasted the ball the Gunners’ goalkeeper. Blues up 2-0 inside 20 minutes.

Again, the second half started positively for Arsenal, but it was obvious that they lacked a world class striker. The chances were there for the Gunners, but they couldn’t finish. Arsenal didn’t take the shots when they had the chance. It seems as if the team was so concerned with playing the game the way their French coach Arsene Wenger wanted, that they were apprehensive in front of goal. Fans were getting a bit upset at the Gunners’ lack of prowess and wanted something to happen quicker.

Even when the Gunners did take a chance on goal, Chelsea goalkeeper, Petr Cech, was on his game. He stopped several shots and crosses from becoming too dangerous. At one point, around the 70^th minute, Cesc Fabregas had a free kick outside of the 18-yard box. The ball came screaming in, but Cech was there to bat it away. Arsenal became increasingly frustrated, as Chelsea stifled their attack time after time, pulling out the 2-0 victory.

It was obvious to everyone involved that Arsenal are a great team; yet it seems just as obvious they are missing something to become a championship team. Is it that very costly world class striker? Maybe a better central defense? It’s difficult to know, but at this rate they will always be third or fourth best. Hopefully, Wenger figures it out before it’s too late and he ends up back in France, sipping the best wine this world has to offer

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This entry was posted on 8 February 2010 at 1:28 AM and is filed under Football (Soccer). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.