By Gary Watton
January 3 2018
Well that was the game that was! Chelsea made a far better fist of visiting Arsenic than they did the last time. However, Antonio Conte was left to rue more dropped points in a London derby. The Blues had to cope with some typically eye-catching Arsenil attacks, and were grateful to the fine form of big Courtois who did his very best to keep their goals down to the two. However, the away team were gifted an array of openings and opportunities, and not for the first time this season, the champions proved themselves very good at missing the target when it would have been easier to score.
Chief culprit yet again was the misfiring Morata. The big guy is a colossus when he gets on the end of a cross, but he seems hopelessly at sea when presented with clear-cut openings in front of goal. Thrice the striker only had Cech to beat and three times he fluffed his lines spectacularly. Fabregas was also guilty of an equally bad miss from inside the penalty area shortly before half time. Meanwhile the erratic Bakayoko was also very flakey and timid when he got on the end of chances. He's no Michael Essien.
As for the enigma that is Morata, if he is worth almost eighty million, then what would Paul Furlong fetch in today's market? Maybe Marcus Alonso is our best bet up front, as he knows how to score with both his feet and his head.
Arsenal 2 CHELSEA 2; half time: 0-0
CHELSEA goal scorers: Hazard (penalty); Alonso
CHELSEA: Courtois; Azpilicueta; Christensen; Moses; Cahill; Bakayoko; Kante; Morata; Fabregas; Alonso; Hazard. Used substitutes: Zappacosta; Drinkwater; Willian
CHELSEA leading scorers:
Morata twelve
Hazard nine
Batshuayi seven
Willian seven
Alonso six
Pedro four
Bakayoko three
Rudiger three
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