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Guardian: Chelsea raise their game to leave Wenger alone in despondency Kevin McCarra at Highbury Having dominated the Premiership, Chelsea are now winning the struggle with themselves. Their quality of play is on the rise again and while they were lucky not to fall behind to a Robin van Persie goal that was mistakenly ruled offside, Jose Mourinho's side was superior to Arsenal in all areas. The Highbury team, beaten in a third consecutive Premiership fixture for the first time in Arsène Wenger's reign, will fear sloping despondently into their new stadium. They have now lapsed into eighth place, with a strong revival necessary if they are not to be left with the hazardous Liverpool route, of lifting the trophy itself, to get them back into the Champions League next season. Chelsea, nine points clear and quoted at 40-1 on to retain the title, have a habit of leaving despondency in their wake. They struck a well-gauged balance yesterday that made them simultaneously secure and dangerous. There were fewer ventures into attack than usual from Frank Lampard, but then there did not need to be. He could hold his ground more often when the three-pronged attack, at differing times, kept the Arsenal defence off balance. The heft and aggression of Didier Drogba made them wobble at the start, when he appealed for a penalty after being touched by Jens Lehmann as he sought to burst through, and the growing impact of Joe Cole polished off Arsenal. And then there was Arjen Robben. For as long as the two of them are at Stamford Bridge, there will be the occasional barbed comment from the manager and the odd inscrutable display by the Dutchman. The relationship between them is charged, though, because they are both conscious of the effect he can have. No one else at Chelsea undoes a defence with quite such smooth economy. Even if he was not the outstanding performer, it was Robben himself who determined whether or not he would succeed. It had nothing to do with the Arsenal back four that, after the interval, he should make the unwise choice to try and find Cole with a cut-back when he could have finished himself or, conversely, to decide against releasing Drogba as he continued on a run of his own. He had been utterly composed, however, when scoring the opener after 39 minutes. At the second attempt, following a William Gallas throw-in, Drogba pushed the ball through to Robben. Kolo Touré had left him unescorted while Sol Campbell played him onside and the winger glided through from the left to strike a finish that bounced into the net off the inside of the far post. The victory was clinched in the 73rd minute. Lauren mis-controlled when he intercepted a pass by Lampard and was robbed by Cole, who then sidestepped Campbell and slotted a low finish into the far corner. Arsenal were simmering long before then with all manner of regrets and grievances. Thierry Henry, in the 20th minute, had gathered Alexander Hleb's pass and, as Ricardo Carvalho slipped, surged beyond Paulo Ferreira to place a shot wide of John Terry that bounced off the far post. If they cursed their own bad luck then, there were soon officials to be sworn at instead. After 21 minutes, Van Persie tidily slipped home a pass from Freddie Ljungberg only to learn that the linesman, unable to see that Gallas had kept him onside, had mistakenly raised his flag. Henry had been positioned well behind Chelsea's defence but, under the modern interpretation, he was assuredly in a passive position. Eleven minutes before the interval, the referee decided that the swing of Michael Essien's arm at Lauren was not violent enough to merit more than a yellow card. It was a delicate judgment to make, but the Ghana international was at even greater risk following a foul on Van Persie in the 52nd minute, when a caution would have seen him ejected from the match. Essien has become notorious since his onslaught on Dietmar Hamann and it was intriguing that Mourinho did not opt to replace the player. The manager had a residual faith in Essien's capacity to keep himself out of further trouble and, just as tellingly, was adamant that he would not undermine his team in that area. The centre of the pitch had been critical. Arsenal, with Patrick Vieira gone and Gilberto Silva suspended, were either callow, in the case of Cesc Fábregas, or outmatched, as Ljungberg and Mathieu Flamini were. Wenger had opted to mirror Chelsea's formation, only to find this reflected badly on his own side. The visitors, with Claude Makelele as shrewd as ever on his comeback from a knee injury, wielded his authority in midfield. As early as the 16th minute, there was proof, too, that his side could flow. Drogba, Gallas and Cole all linked before an Essien drive was blocked. Chelsea can also afford to be patient. Since the loss at Old Trafford, they have hardened their hearts and their defence. This was a fifth consecutive clean sheet in the Premiership and any saves Petr Cech did make were entirely routine for a goalkeeper of his calibre. A first Premiership win at Highbury was always on the horizon once Van Persie's goal had been disallowed. That statistic, however, counts for less than the fact that Chelsea have completed all the league business with Arsenal for the season and have ticked off their trips to Old Trafford, Anfield and White Hart Lane as well. The remainder of the fixture list must look as comely to Mourinho as the Premiership table. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2: Fates mock 'lucky Arsenal' as Cole gives Chelsea control of destiny By Glenn Moore at Highbury Published: 19 December 2005 Lucky Arsenal? There were not many suggesting that at Highbury last night. Fortune may balance out across a season but over 90 minutes a twist of fate can seriously tilt the scales. So it was for Arsenal, whose dwindling title hopes were extinguished in a bitter tale of linesmen's flags and goal posts. Manchester United, too, may feel this marked the beginning of the end of the title race. They are now nine points behind Chelsea and barring an improbable implosion the champions will be celebrating back-to-back titles by the time United go to Stamford Bridge on 29 April. For Arsenal, languishing in eighth, 20 points behind Chelsea and 11 behind United, the domestic League season is now reduced to a scramble for a Champions' League place and a period of deep introspection. This is the first time in a decade they have lost three successive Premiership matches and it is now six hours and 25 minutes since they scored a Premiership goal. Robin van Persie may disagree. He believed he had scored a perfectly good "goal", indeed a very good one, 20 minutes into this then-goalless match. A linesman, wrongly, ruled otherwise. Eighteen minutes later another marginal decision went, correctly, in favour of Arjen Robben. He scored. Add the fact that Henry had already seen the ball hit the post and bounce out, while Robben and Joe Cole with the clinching second, scored in-off-the-post, and the "Lucky Arsenal" sobriquet should not just be laid to rest but entombed. Not that Chelsea were unworthy winners. They controlled much of the game and might have won it in the opening 15 minutes. Claude Makelele returned to deliver another performance of quiet influence, Didier Drogba terrorised the Arsenal defence, Robben showed signs of regaining his best form, and the defence showed why it is now 11 hours and 29 minutes since they have conceded. Cole had another excellent match, defensively and offensively. Such is the pressure Chelsea's growing hegemony places on opponents that Arsène Wenger made a rare change in formation, adopting a 4-3-3 system which sought to ape his opponents'. However, Freddie Ljungberg and Van Persie, Arsenal's wide men, were naturally inclined to move inside which made Arsenal even more narrow than usual. On occasion the full-backs got forward but too rarely - and when they did there were not enough strikers in the area. While Arsenal felt their way into this unfamiliar approach Chelsea went for their throats. In the opening minute Frank Lampard intercepted a wayward pass from Alexander Hleb and chipped a cross to Drogba. He nodded the ball down to the unmarked Cole but he sliced his volley. Jens Lehmann was tested a minute later, the keeper palming Lampard's free-kick over the bar. The pressure continued with Drogba appealing for a penalty after Lehmann pulled his arm in the area and Lauren making a vital block from Essien's shot. Arsenal needed a catalyst, a means of raising their game and lifting the siege. Lauren, then Henry provided it. First Lauren crunched into a challenge on Cole, leaving the England man complaining and Highbury roaring. Then came a more elegant statement of intent as Henry weaved through the Chelsea defence, neatly sidestepping John Terry, then steered a shot past Petr Cech, agonisingly against the outside of the post and away. Chelsea were rattled, Arsenal resurgent. Campbell crashed into a tackle and the ball span to Ljungberg, who fed Van Persie. He drilled the ball inside Cech's near post and wheeled away to celebrate. A linesman's flag stopped him dead. Yet William Gallas, on the other flank, had played him onside. Perhaps the linesman has been confused by Henry, offside but not interfering with play under current guidelines. Van Persie's anger grew as Essien escaped punishment for elbowing him as both jumped for a header. He was soon booked for dissent, the first of seven yellow cards. Justice, of sorts, caught up with Essien four minutes later after his wayward elbow felled Lauren. As Arsenal demanded a red card Chelsea accused Lauren of faking so strongly he had to be restrained by his physio, Gary Lewin. Then Arsenal's concentration and luck slipped away. A throw-in fell to Drogba and, with Kolo Touré ball-watching, he released Robben. The flag stayed down and the ball went in off the post. Arsenal did not go quietly into a twilight of domestic irrelevance but only Lauren and Henry tested Cech. From less possession Chelsea were more threatening. Robben twice broke but took the wrong decision, passing to Cole when he should have shot, shooting when he should have fed Drogba. Eventually Cole mugged a hesitating Lauren, dummied Campbell and beat Lehmann, off the post. Soon after he struck woodwork again, and the ball stayed out. Had Arsenal's luck changed, or were the fates, like the away support, laughing at them? Goals: Robben (3 0-1; Cole (72) 0-2. Arsenal (4-3-3): Lehmann; Touré, Senderos, Campbell, Lauren; Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb (Pires, 69); Ljungberg (Bergkamp, 69), Henry, Van Persie (Owusu-Abeyie, 81). Substitutes not used: Almunia (gk), Eboue. Chelsea (4-3-3): Cech; Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Gallas; Makelele, Essien, Lampard; Cole, Drogba (Huth, 87), Robben (Geremi, 76). Substitutes not used: Crespo, Cudicini (gk), Gudjohnsen. Referee: R Styles (Cheshire). Booked: Arsenal Van Persie, Senderos, Henry. Chelsea Essien, Robben, Makelele, Lampard. Man of the match: Cole. Attendance: 38, 347. Head-to-heads Where the battle of Highbury was won and lost By Jason Burt THIERRY HENRY v JOHN TERRY The two captains. Henry was his side's greatest hope, Terry his team's greatest barrier. Henry almost struck the first blow after ghosting away from Terry to hit a post. Terry was not at his imperious best but his determination saw him through. A frustrated Henry was booked for tripping Ricardo Carvalho. AP MATHIEU FLAMINI v FRANK LAMPARD Handed a huge role and, despite his occasionally tidy, alert play, Flamini was exposed as the limited performer he is. Exchanged early tackles with Lampard, and also drew blood when he caught the England midfielder's head, but did not exert control. Lampard's defensive discipline was vital to Chelsea. REUTERS PHILIPPE SENDEROS v DIDIER DROGBA Scared and scarred by his previous meetings with the Chelsea striker, Senderos was a ponderous, nervous wreck. Drogba provided the pass for Arjen Robben's goal and once again proved an effective, if far from pretty, bludgeon in Chelsea's attack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Telegraph: Wenger throws in the towel as Chelsea triumph By Christopher Davies Arsenal (0) 0 Chelsea (1) 2 The rest of the Premiership did not get the result needed to make the title at least a two-horse race. Manchester United trail runaway leaders Chelsea by a daunting nine points and, since they beat Jose Mourinho's side at Old Trafford on Nov 6, the Premiership champions have won every game and have not conceded a goal in 689 minutes. Opponents can't even score against Chelsea let alone beat them. At the end of what was ultimately an easy victory over Arsenal, Frank Lampard turned to the Chelsea dug-out with his fist clenched in a celebratory gesture. The title holders would need to go on an unprecedented poor run under the self-styled Special One - two defeats in 55 Premiership games - for a different name to be engraved on the trophy next May. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, conceding defeat in the title race after his side lost their 100 per cent record at Highbury this season, said: "We are too far behind Chelsea to challenge them." Wenger, whose target is now a top-four finish, added: "We have to be in the Champions League next season and we want to finish as close to the top team, be it Chelsea or some other team." It would have been naively optimistic to expect a game between the capital's two heavyweight clubs with a recent history of managerial scraps to pass without incident and their pre-Yuletide duel inevitably had its controversies. The first came in the 11th minute when Didier Drogba claimed Philippe Senderos had pulled him down as the pair tussled inside the penalty area. Mourinho said it should have been a red card but would he have done so had John Terry similarly challenged Thierry Henry at the other end? Unlikely. After 20 minutes, Henry, who has scored 10 times against Chelsea, was put clear by Mathieu Flamini and, as Ricardo Carvalho slipped, the Arsenal captain evaded John Terry and put his shot past Petr Cech only for it to strike a post. A minute later, Chelsea's back-line was caught out again and, while Henry clearly offside but not interfering with play, Robin van Persie was marginally onside as Freddie Ljungberg played the ball though and the Holland striker's low shot gave Cech no chance. Van Persie's celebrations were curtailed because linesman Darren Cann had raised his flag, leaving Styles no option but to rule out the effort for offside. Being a linesman is an almost impossible job at times, especially without the aid of slow-motion replays that their critics enjoy. If Cann made an error with his decision made at "real speed", it was so marginal that he is entitled to a little understanding that armchair viewers rarely give. Michael Essien, whose technique is in danger of being overshadowed by his temperament, swung an arm at Lauren as they challenged for possession 10 minutes before the interval. Styles had failed to send off the Ghana international for a studs-up tackle on Bolton's Tal Ben Haim in October and again showed the Chelsea midfielder the yellow card for his latest indiscretion. Such is Essien's growing reputation for being one of football's hard men, the popular decision would have been a dismissal. Styles should have sent off Essien in the Bolton game instead of cautioning him, but it would have been equally incorrect to have ordered off the Chelsea midfielder this time as the contact appeared to be with Lauren's upper chest rather than his head. Guidelines to officials state that this is a cautionable offence. Had the Arsenal player been hit in the face, a red card would have been the proper sanction but Styles was right to show only a yellow. The Highbury faithful were baying for Essien's blood in the second half when he caught Van Persie's heels but the Arsenal striker's theatrical fall did not help the case for a second yellow card although Styles left the offender in no doubt he was in the last chance saloon. Arsenal knew their own chances were slim once they conceded a goal in the 29th minute. Drogba flicked on William Gallas' throw-in on the halfway line and Robben took advantage of a free run down the left before cutting inside and scoring his second goal of the season with a low drive that went in off the far upright. The Arsenal goalkeeper was beaten for a second time in the 74th minute after Lauren had failed to control Lampard's crossfield pass, losing possession to Cole. The midfielder punished Lauren's mistake in the harshest manner, racing to the edge of the area before scoring with an angled shot. As Chelsea had not conceded a single goal in the second half of a competitive game this season, the game was over. "We were the best team and played very well but they are a side with such quality they can kill you," said Mourinho afterwards. ''It's more difficult to beat Arsenal than other team. It's more difficult to win at Highbury than win at home. So it was a very important victory for us.'' • Man of the match: Joe Cole. Arsenal: Lehmann, Toure, Senderos, Campbell, Lauren, Ljungberg (Bergkamp 70), Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb (Pires 70), Van Persie (Owusu-Abeyie 82), Henry. Subs: Almunia, Eboue. Booked: Van Persie, Senderos, Henry. Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Gallas, Essien, Makelele, Lampard, Joe Cole, Drogba (Huth 8, Robben (Geremi 77). Subs: Crespo, Gudjohnsen, Cudicini. Booked: Robben, Essien, Makelele, Lampard. Goals: Robben 39, Joe Cole 73. Att: 38,347 Ref: R Styles (Hampshire). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Times: Chelsea make it look too easy By Matt Dickinson Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2 SO THE TITLE RACE IS OVER, BUT THEN it never really began. Anyone who bet against Chelsea retaining their domestic crown must have had more money to burn than Roman Abramovich. José Mourinho would not accept that his side's lead was impregnable, at least not publicly, but the handshake he gave each of his backroom staff a few minutes before the final whistle yesterday revealed a man in total control. He has been known to skip down the touchline at moments of triumph but this gesture was composed, business-like and assured, much like his Chelsea team. Manchester United and Liverpool are still in pursuit but it is impossible to believe that the champions will drop more points than either. Mourinho's biggest concern over the next few months may be ensuring that his team's success is not taken for granted, with attention turned away from Chelsea's strengths and focused on the failings at Old Trafford and Highbury. It can be argued that no one does more to divert the focus from his squad than the Portuguese peacock himself, but he did rush off down the tunnel at the final whistle yesterday — presumably to avoid Arsène Wenger — leaving his players to celebrate with their supporters towards one corner of the pitch. At the other end, the clock continued the countdown to the day that Arsenal move into the new Emirates stadium but their supporters may not bear to look at it much longer. There are 141 days left and they must be wishing the time away. They have much to play for before May, particularly as they lie eighth in the table, a long way off the Champions League places, but trying to leap above Manchester City, Wigan Athletic and, worst of all for them, Tottenham Hotspur, is an unseemly business for the club who won the championship only 18 months ago and, in going unbeaten throughout a whole campaign, appeared ready to establish a dynasty. Arsenal are more in debt to Wenger than they are to the banks who have funded the new stadium just down the road but the sale of Patrick Vieira, which looked risky at the time, looks positively foolhardy on days such as this. It would make sense from a financial perspective if the money had been reinvested but still the fans wait for their manager to spend the £30 million that is said to be available to him. Asked if it was the end of an era for a team who have not finished outside the top two under Wenger, the Frenchman replied that it was the start of one but there will have to be shrewd investment on top of the maturing process if they are to challenge Chelsea for the title any time in the next few seasons. They will also have to retain Thierry Henry, who may have been dreaming of Barcelona when, in the second half, he was cautioned for a frustrated hack at Ricardo Carvalho. A rare flash of rage, the Arsenal captain may still have been thinking of those pivotal few moments in the first half when he hit a post after a balletic piece of footwork and then saw himself ruled offside when Robin van Persie placed the ball in Chelsea's net. Those chances were to prompt Arsenal into their best period of the match but, just as they looked in control, Chelsea scored at the other end. Arjen Robben's finish was superb but Wenger could ask questions of Kolo Touré, Sol Campbell and Philippe Senderos. The latter two will be glad that they are not due to face Didier Drogba again. Wenger had said that the first goal would be crucial. Chelsea had not conceded a goal in the second half in 26 Barclays Premiership matches and they rarely looked like doing so yesterday. The Arsenal manager threw on Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires, changing the 4-3-3 shape that he had picked at the start in the vain hope of matching Chelsea man for man, but just as they sought to make an impact, Joe Cole took advantage of Lauren's slip to shoot brilliantly with his left foot from just outside the area. Arsenal's third league defeat in a row was guaranteed and Wenger was left to reflect on the fact that Chelsea would almost certainly retain their championship — a feat that he has never achieved despite a hat-trick of titles since he came to England. "You're even worse than Tottenham," the Chelsea supporters crowed, as well as drawing attention to the 20-point gap between the champions and their London rivals. Meanwhile, that clock in the corner at Highbury was ticking slower than ever for the Arsenal fans. Every second felt like an age.