Arsenal boss Unai Emery has urged his boys to find and retain their balance, following a 2-0 victory over Chelsea FC on Saturday. both Neighbors battles for the 4th position of the English Premier League table after missing out on the last edition of the tournament.
The Gunners have struggled to maintain consistency in recent weeks, leaving their manager calling for more despite an excellent win
Unai Emery acknowledges there is a big discrepancy between Arsenal’s home and away performances after his team swatted aside Chelsea at Emirates Stadium. First-half goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny lifted the Gunners back up to fifth in the Premier League above a resurgent Manchester United on goal difference and three points shy of Chelsea.
Arsenal has not lost at home in the Premier League since champions Manchester City triumphed 2-0 on the opening weekend of the season, but their high-energy showing on Saturday was in stark contrast to recent defeats on the road against Southampton, Liverpool and West Ham.
The home side started strongly and looked certain score in the fifth minute when Alexandre Lacazette got in behind Marcos Alonso and crossed low to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but the league’s joint-top scorer at the start of the weekend scuffed wide. Then center-back Sokratis headed a corner wide from close range having beaten Mateo Kovacic to the ball.
In the 10th minute Chelsea, at last, broke out, and Hazard met a low Cesar Azpilicueta cross first time but was off-target. He was annoyed to have not worked the keeper at least. We were, however, conceding too many set-pieces at our end of the pitch and from a free-kick, Kepa superbly saved with his chest from Koscielny’s point-blank range header. It was only a short stay of execution. The corner was worked in low to Lacazette who turned and found just enough space on the outside of Alonso to fire in from a tight angle. It was a good goal. There were less than 15 minutes played.
It was Kepa to the rescue again soon after when Aubameyang nicked the ball of Azpi and charged away for a clear shot on goal, but then the Blues had a difficult chance to level through the combination which had opened the scoring against Newcastle last week – a David Luiz long passes to Pedro. This time the Spaniard’s lob went wide. It was his first real involvement in the game. Aubameyang, with an acrobatic effort, went close to making it 2-0 on 36 minutes but two minutes later our net was found again. As for the first goal, it started with a set-piece on our left, this time played across the penalty and then sent back into our goalmouth. There was a degree of good fortune for Koscielny with the way he diverted it into the goal with his shoulder, yet there were five Chelsea players near him, and none had managed to cut out the supply line. Two goals down and since the Pedro effort we had shown little in attack bar the odd long shot over the bar or a run into the area which did not produce the final pass, but on the stroke of the interval, Alonso hit the post with a good headed effort from Willian’s corner. Earlier in the day the left-back had, bemoaned his misfortune in striking the woodwork multiple times this season, and unfortunately, that run continues.
It was better from Chelsea at the start of the second half, but could we fashion a clear-cut chance? When Willian attempted another of his curlers in the manner of his Newcastle winner, it hit one of his team-mates. Ten minutes in, the Brazilian pulled a ball back to Pedro on the edge of the area but frustratingly, the Spaniard skied it. Plenty of possession in the Arsenal half continued but it needed some strong Chelsea defending to keep Arsenal out when they began to launch counter-attacks as the last half-hour of the game commenced. Substitute Ross Barkley flattened Koscielny with a powerfully struck shot from the edge of the area and as the minutes ticked away, Hazard squared the ball across the goalmouth to no avail. He then embarked on a twisting run before shooting over. There was the odd moment of hope before the end, but the finishing touch was not there today. It is likely to need a sharper display from Sarri’s side if we are going overcome the single-goal semi-final deficit when we host Tottenham in the second leg on Thursday night.
Emery is set to restore the Gunners back to winning ways, following the Arrival of Gabonese star, but his hopes might be cut short if playing Champions League football next season finally becomes a doubt.