re: Match Day 4/26

No one looked excited to celebrate that

Arsenal were not sharp today, but in the first half I was amazed how much space Chelsea gave them. Obviously it was a strategy and it nearly worked if Oscar scores or any of the penalties were given. In the second half Arsenal wanted to go through the middle and that was where Chelsea was strong, but it still took a very good effort from Terry to prevent chances. Arsenal lacked the final ball more times than I can count especially when they had numbers. But the games this season have been different versus Chelsea than they have been before. More physical and the passing up until the final ball has been as good as I've seen against any team Arsenal has played against. There was one passage of play that was lightning quick and completely passed through Chelsea in a way I haven't seen. I said in the first game that this was the most open I've ever seen Chelsea under Mourinho and I will stand by that claim.

Looking at both sides, its more amazing that neither side actually scored considering some of the chances created.

The only penalty for me was the Oscar/Ospina one. The Fabregas/Cazorla incident was the same for me as the first Oscar incident. I don't see why Oscar wasn't carded for the first if Fabregas was carded for nearly the same thing. Perhaps the difference was that Cazorla clearly moved his leg away from Fabregas where Oscar tripped over his own feet.

Damn that was nice.

Frijolito is the best striker in the world!! Am I right or am I right??!

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I don't see why Oscar wasn't carded for the first if Fabregas was carded for nearly the same thing.

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I guess Oliver could only go so much tard in one half.

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Perhaps the difference was that Cazorla clearly moved his leg away from Fabregas

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Does moving your leg away after a foul make it less of a foul?

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I said in the first game that this was the most open I've ever seen Chelsea under Mourinho and I will stand by that claim.

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We were very open in the first half but once Drogba came on it was going to be nearly impossible for us to score so we had to take what we could get.

TFC looks much better now that they've abandoned trying to play Giovinco behind two strikers

Dear god, Jozy is having fun

Giovinco is so damn tiny. Never realized how little that man is.

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Does moving your leg away after a foul make it less of a foul?

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In Oliver's position, he saw Cazorla swinging his leg away from Fabregas. There might have been both contact by Cazorla and embellishment by Fabregas, but it was in essence the same thing that happened between Oscar and Bellerin. I don't understand the non-call on Oscar and the call on Fabregas.

And I've been saying for a long time, but this Chelsea team is structurally different from previous iterations. Most PL teams aren't good enough to exploit that weakness but there is something there that makes them look beatable.