Submitted by isport on Mon, 08/07/2017 - 09:37
At the curtain raiser at Wembley Stadium, Chelsea showed their defensive frailties ahead of their Premier League title defence. Several factors hindered the team from shining brightly and one of them was Fabregas’ defensive liabilities.
Fabregas was given little room to roam in the middle by his former team. He was peripheral in the duel though he showed few flashes of brilliance, as expected. He gave N’Golo Kante more defensive responsibilities as Tiemoue Bamayoko was not available. Antonio Rudiger came too late but showed he could be a decent option for the Blues this term.
Chelsea’s performance was lethargic and disjointed but one key moment sent the game Arsenal’s way. Pedro, who was decent all through, needlessly brought down Elneny and was sent off ten minutes to the end of the match, which led to an equaliser and penalites at the end of the 90 minutes. Thibaut Courtois (who bizarrely took the second penalty kick, after skipper Gary Cahill converted the first) missed, and was followed onto the wall of shame by new boy Alvaro Morata who also missed his penalty kick to hand the Gunners the Shield.
Chelsea had been the slim favourites on https://sport.netbet.co.uk/, with Arsenal having their own transfer troubles so far this season, but ended up missing out.
Victor Moses gave an impressive performance on the afternoon. He was sent off in the FA Cup final against Arsenal in May – that would have made Chelsea ‘double’ title holders – but he returned to atone for his errors. He deserves credit for his positioning to send Cahill’s header past Petr Cech for the first goal. The Nigerian will likely go all the way in the wingback role all season. Even if Conte reinforces the right wing before the deadline, Moses will continue to shine brightly in the adapted role.
On the other wing, Marcos Alonso remains stable even though his creativity was limited. The Italian manager opted to play Cesar Azpilicueta in the role later on as Rudiger came on. Azpilicueta was versatile and decent enough. He started in centre back, alongside Cahill and David Luiz before moving to cover for Alonso.
Luiz was impressive as he showed what a good defender he is on a good day. He threw in a skilful display as well. Cahill on his part showed strong leadership skill as he is set to lead the side in the absence of John Terry. Taking and converting the first spot kick is another plus for the England international.
Upfront, Willian gave a decent show. He lead the attack as Batshuayi did not impress as expected, despite his preseason displays. The major talking point for Willian was his incident with Hector Bellerin in the first half. He went to ground, not too easily though, in the box and the referee Robert Madley booked him for simulation. There was contact but replays show it might not have been enough for a penalty. Charly Musonda was sent in to replace the Brazilian much later on.
Conte and his team would have to put the game behind them as the season kicks off next weekend. It is a reminder that work needs to be done as they seek to retain the title they won a few months back.