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The TimesMarch 24, 2008
Grateful Avram Grant reverts to battering ram
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
Martin Samuel, Chief Football Correspondent, at Stamford Bridge
Roman Abramovich may wish to reconsider his quest for the beautiful game after this. In the first half, Chelsea played the fast, one-touch passing football that is closest to their benefactor’s heart, and it got them nowhere. A goal down with 20 minutes remaining, they converted to the direct, aesthetically unappealing approach that has been the root of so many bad vibes from the owner’s box at Stamford Bridge, and clawed victory from the clutches of defeat. The result: Chelsea are now established as the biggest threat to Manchester United’s supremacy this season. Avram Grant, football genius, as they don’t like to sing around these parts.
The Chelsea first-team coach would be permitted a wry smile – as opposed to his standard expression, which is that of a man who has returned to find his car clamped at midnight – at his change of fortune here. Trailing to a header from Bacary Sagna, the Arsenal defender, he removed Claude Makelele for Nicolas Anelka and Michael Ballack for Juliano Belletti after 70 minutes, the second substitution bringing a chorus of disapproval from the crowd and noisy chants endorsing José Mourinho, Grant’s predecessor.
Within 12 minutes, Chelsea were ahead, thanks to the chaos caused in Arsenal’s defensive ranks by the introduction of a second striker, while the second goal was the work of a free kick from the unwelcome Belletti. Nobody sang for Grant when his instincts were proven correct, but there is still time.
This was a milestone for the new manager, with three points taken from a title rival. All eyes will now be on the visit of Manchester United to Stamford Bridge on April 26, although Chelsea cannot afford to drop points between now and then, and need another club to do them a favour, too, with five points and an inferior goal difference the gap between them and United – Arsenal, perhaps, who must go to Old Trafford on April 13.
What Chelsea have going for them is that four of their last seven matches are at home, and Stamford Bridge remains a stronghold. No team has won here since Claudio Ranieri’s time, although when Sagna ran off Salomon Kalou to glance a header past Carlo Cudicini in the 59th minute, Arsenal were shaping to go as close as any. That the goal came from a corner by Cesc Fàbregas was no surprise. Following on from his stunning performance in the San Siro against AC Milan earlier this month, the Spaniard was rising to the occasion in another big game, pulling the strings, toying with the tempo of the occasion, slowing the play down, making it react to his bidding. Some of his passes inside the Chelsea full backs were sublime, the high points of the creative action. What changed was Chelsea’s approach, which moved from playing Arsenal fruitlessly at their own game to presenting them with the type of physical challenge that has long been an Achilles heel.
For 70 minutes, Chelsea laboured as Arsenal Lite, with excellent, swift exchanges of passing and good movement, but to little effect. It was noticeable that for all their possession their best chance of the first half came from an absolute hoof out of defence by John Terry, which dropped at the feet of Didier Drogba on the run, a poor first touch sending the ball harmlessly into the hands of Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal goalkeeper.
When Grant introduced Anelka as Drogba’s partner, a move which closely coincided with a rearrangement in the Arsenal back four as Sagna, the right back, left the field injured, Chelsea abandoned all pretence of trying to tickle Arsenal into submission.
Out came the battering ram, and there is nobody better to administer it than Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker, whose scoring form returned at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Undaunted by his first-half miss, he bullied Arsenal’s defence to defeat, Kolo Touré, his countryman, finding his presence particularly undesirable.
What his goals lacked in splendour they made up for in sheer bloody-mindedness. There was nothing greatly handsome about Chelsea’s 72nd-minute equaliser, other than the sheer effort put in by Drogba and Frank Lampard in battling for a long ball struck by Belletti. When it finally broke loose, Drogba’s finish was smart and decisive, and his goal ripped the guts out of Arsenal. From there, the worst that Chelsea were going to do was draw.
In the 81st minute, they upgraded. Belletti struck a free kick from the right, which Anelka flicked on, Drogba losing Touré to win the game with a shot on the half volley, struck into the ground but with enough force to beat Almunia, even though the goalkeeper got his hands to it. A minute later, Chelsea threatened again, with another Belletti cross met by Drogba, although this time Almunia tipped it round.
At the end, Chelsea looked belligerent, Arsenal humbled. Christophe Lolllichon, Chelsea’s goalkeeping coach, was sent from the bench by Mark Clattenburg, the referee, during injury time for throwing the ball away, but there was little point in winding the clock down in such childish fashion. Arsenal did not have an equalising goal in them by that time, and the ineffectiveness of their own attacking substitute, Theo Walcott, introduced after 75 minutes, must have been a particular worry to Fabio Capello, the watching England manager. (Although not as big a worry as the form of Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal’s Drogba, must be to Arsène Wenger. He barely showed all game.)
This was a serious defeat and Arsenal knew it. For a month Wenger’s team had kept their head above water, not playing well but drawing matches, fooling the world that this was a blip not a slump. Now there can be no doubt. From five points clear, Arsenal are six points adrift of Manchester United and no longer in a position to guarantee qualification for the Champions League. Chelsea’s fate may only be to trot up in second place, but one would rather be in Grant’s shoes right now than Wenger’s. And that is the first time anybody has wished for that this season.
How they rated
Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 7 M Essien 7 R Carvalho 7 J Terry 7 A Cole 7 M Ballack Y 6 C Makelele 6 F Lampard 7 J Cole Y 7 D Drogba Y 8 S Kalou 5 Substitutes: J Belletti 7 (for Ballack, 70min), N Anelka 6 (for Makelele, 70), J O Mikel (for J Cole, 88). Not used: Hilário, Alex. Next: Middlesbrough (h).
Arsenal: (4-4-1-1): M Almunia 6 B Sagna 7 K Touré 5 W Gallas 7 G Clichy 6 E Eboué Y 6 F Fàbregas 7 M Flamini 7 R van Persie 5 A Hleb 5 E Adebayor 5 Substitutes: A Diaby (for Sagna, 71), T Walcott (for Van Persie, 75), N Bendtner (for Flamini, 88) Not used: J Lehmann, P Senderos. Next: Bolton Wanderers (a). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Telegraph:
Avram Grant's stock rises after Chelsea victoryBy Henry Winter at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea (0) 2 Arsenal (0) 1
Of the many surprises this eventful season, the sight of Avram Grant outwitting Arsene Wenger ranks right up there. Short of Ashley Cole becoming a referee or Didier Drogba surviving a game without medical attention, the season may not produce any greater shocks than Grant getting his substitutions as right as in the 72nd minute here.
Just when the words "taxi for Grant" were forming on thousands of lips, the mood almost turned into "open-top bus for Grant" when his changes brought two goals from Drogba. Almost but not quite. Chelsea fans clearly remain sceptical about Jose Mourinho's successor. The terrace jury will be out until April 26 when Manchester United visit the Bridge. In the stock market of footballing fortunes, the wise broker will buy United in huge quantities, sell every Arsenal share sharpish, even at a loss, and hold on to Chelsea for a while longer.
There is life in the title race still, but it would be a major surprise if United faltered now. Five points clear of second-placed Chelsea, the champions effectively enjoy another point with their vastly superior goal difference (49 to Chelsea's 32). United also have the best team with goals all over, and the prolific presence of Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the Footballer of the Year in waiting.
As United have waxed, Arsenal have waned. Eduardo's injury, William Gallas' sulk, Wenger's poor team selection at Old Trafford in the FA Cup: all have served to chip away at Arsenal's confidence. Gallas sought to rally his nervous players before kick-off with constant exhortations of "no fear".
Arsenal's captain repeated it, mantra-like, to Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Emmanuel Adebayor. He was clearly concerned. For 70 minutes, Arsenal held their own, even taking the lead through Bacary Sagna, but then old fears rushed back, cramping their movement.
Suddenly, the defence resembled isolated individuals, not a strong collective. Suddenly, Adebayor stopped making those clever runs. Suddenly, Fabregas and his fellow-midfielders were outmanoeuvred. Suddenly, all the doubts came flooding back over Wenger's failure to strengthen his squad in January. Chelsea recruited Nicolas Anelka. Wenger refused to open a war chest reported to contain £70 million, even though the defence urgently required cover and a top-class left-sided midfielder would have helped.
Fear seeped into Arsenal hearts. Emboldened by Grant's introduction of Anelka, Chelsea pounced. Drogba, clearly enjoying Anelka's ability to distract opposing centre-halves, sensed Arsenal's fear and went for the jugular. Like lightning, Drogba struck twice, ensuring Arsenal suffered their worst run in the league for nine years.
If the garlands were rightly thrown Drogba's way, Mark Clattenburg deserves huge praise for his handling of a derby that is occasionally of the demolition variety.Although young, the Geordie exudes an authority that players respect and he confirmed his reputation as the best referee in the country after Howard Webb.
Gathering both captains beforehand, Clattenburg urged them to make it a good, clean fight and both sides responded. Emmanuel Eboue's fuse burned for a while but Arsenal's Mr Combustible calmed down eventually. Even Ashley Cole kept his studs down and his mouth closed.
The only person who really fell foul of Clattenburg was Chelsea's goalkeeping coach, Christophe Lollichon, who was asked to vacate the dug-out for holding on to the ball and incurring the wrath of Wenger. It was the only argument Chelsea lost all afternoon.
They were definitely tested for 70 minutes. Arsenal looked confident as the game unfolded. Fabregas delivered a sublime pass to Hleb, before teeing up Robin van Persie. The Dutchman's magic wand of a left foot almost conjured up a goal; his first touch controlled the ball, his second drew a low save from Carlo Cudicini.
Back came Chelsea, suddenly going direct as an absorbing game flowed from end to end. John Terry lifted a long ball forward, which Drogba initially read well, getting goalside of Gallas. He should have scored, but misjudged the ball's speed which bounced off his knee.
Tempers briefly flared. Wenger accused Michael Ballack of diving over a Fabregas challenge. Eboue, already cautioned for breaking early from a wall, flirted with dismissal with a series of moans.
But this was football played with proper intent, with respect to the fore. Fabregas produced a superb dispossession of Salomon Kalou. Then Manuel Almunia saved brilliantly from Ballack and Joe Cole.
The drama was only beginning. The second half produced classic fare, the tone set from the moment Cudicini denied Mathieu Flamini. Back came Arsenal again, this time more fruitfully. When Fabregas curled a corner towards the near-post, all Arsenal players were closely marked apart from one. Sagna had escaped Kalou and the Frenchman's flicked header was perfect, angled to bisect Chelsea's keeper and his upright for his first Arsenal goal. Why teams do not place full-backs guarding each post remains one of the mysteries of the modern era.
The resolve in Chelsea's ranks shone through. Ballack tested Almunia again. Arsenal's defence needed to be at their best to resist the rising blue surge. When Sagna slipped and twisted his ankle, Arsenal lost one of the pillars of their defence. Reorganising the back-line produced what Wenger lamented afterwards as a "disturbance".
Too true. Eboue went to right-back, Hleb pushed across to right midfield, Van Persie shuffled across, allowing Abou Diaby in on the left of midfield. Yet it was Grant's substitutions that initially drew most concern, particularly the arrival of Juliano Belletti. Fans cried "you don't know what you are doing" and chanted for Mourinho.
What happened next was certainly special. Belletti's installation at right-back allowed the excellent Michael Essien into midfield. Belletti also made his mark, delivering a long pass to Drogba. The ball continued through to Frank Lampard and then off Toure and back to Drogba. With his right foot he sent it racing low past Almunia from 20 yards: 1-1.
Drogba's celebrations were almost as spectacular as his goal, whipping his shirt off and then throwing himself into the front row of the stalls. Clattenburg waited patiently to administer the yellow card. Drogba shrugged his shoulders, and set about embarrassing Arsenal again.
Clearly enjoying Anelka's company, Drogba plundered his second eight minutes later. Another Belletti delivery set the scene, this time Anelka becoming involved, rising above Gallas to flick the ball on to Drogba. Toure slipped, allowing the ball to travel through to Drogba, whose response was terrific. Despite being off-balance, he connected well with the ball, firing it down and in. United, though, were the big winners this weekend.
Scouting for Capello
John Terry pressed his claim for the England captaincy in front of Fabio Capello with a typically commanding display - even risking an ankle injury, such was the strength of one second-half challenge on Alexander Hleb. Joe Cole wrought havoc with his blistering pace, floating a superb cross to the back post from which fellow international Ashley Cole could have added to Arsenal's embarrassment. Frank Lampard was anonymous by comparison, the substitution of Michael Ballack indicating that his midfield partnership with the German had misfired.
Man of the match Didier Drogba (Chelsea) 9 • Two goals from four shots• Four dribbles• Two tackles---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Independent:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1: Grant's last roll of the dice leaves Arsenal's title dreams in tatters
Respect. It is the issue that has gripped English football for seven stormy days and with 20 minutes remaining at Stamford Bridge yesterday it was running out fast for Avram Grant. Derision poured on him from his own team's fans, Jose Mourinho's name ringing out and the Chelsea manager on the brink of a disaster of his own making.
Two goals from Didier Drogba later and Chelsea's maligned manager at last had a Premier League victory over one of the big beasts of English football as well as a foothold in the title race. Respect? Grant might have to wait longer to hear his name sung at Stamford Bridge but give the man his due today: within 11 minutes of his two controversial substitutions Chelsea had completed a remarkable comeback that puts them second in the table and within five points of Manchester United.
The dust settles on another Grand Slam Sunday and the head says that this time these two games have almost lived up to the preposterous hype. There was a 3-0 victory for United over Liverpool after Javier Mascherano ran roughshod over the Football Association's new guidelines for showing respect to officials and was dismissed. Then a Drogba-inspired Chelsea victory after Bacary Sagna had given Arsenal the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Before he reached the light, however, Grant had to experience his darkest moment first. His decision to take off Claude Makelele and, more controversially, Michael Ballack, on 70 minutes elicited an extraordinary response from the fans. As the German shook his head so the Chelsea support began to chant "You don't know what you're doing". By the time Ballack had trudged down the tunnel the Chelsea fans were singing the name of Grant's predecessor.
There is nothing in all the Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's resources that can protect his manager from that kind of humiliation. Very quickly, the reaction of the crowd had made these two substitutions from Grant feel like a last roll of the dice; one last desperate attempt to salvage something. Chelsea's 77-game domestic unbeaten run at home was at stake; Mourinho's legacy hung heavy over him. For Grant, this move had to work.
That it was Drogba who won the game for Chelsea was bitterly ironic; he is one of a few players who will for ever be a Mourinho loyalist. As the Ivorian came off the pitch at the end there was the briefest of handshakes with Grant but a hug for his assistant, Steve Clarke. Arsène Wenger tartly pointed out that there was a suspicion of offside over the first Chelsea goal but even he could not deny that his side failed to deal with the power of Drogba.
The big winner from this weekend? Undoubtedly Sir Alex Ferguson, whose United side's lead at the top is extended by two points and whose team have again shown that they have far fewer flaws than any of those in pursuit of them. Chelsea conceded yet another goal from a set piece; Arsenal proved themselves susceptible to the muscle and directness of Drogba. In contrast, United rumble on, still capable, you suspect, of much more should they need to produce it.
This is an ever more brittle Arsenal team, whose dream of winning the title with their beautiful, fragile style of football has surely been broken on a run of five league games without a win. Since that draw with Birmingham on 23 February they have thrown away a lead of eight points over Chelsea. Next season they hope to get all this right, to mature into a team capable of winning games like this, but that kind of transformation felt a long way away come full-time yesterday.
For Grant, however, the story could yet be about this season rather than next. Chelsea play United on 26 April at Stamford Bridge in a game that will make the difference in this title race and Ferguson's side cannot afford to drift within striking distance of Chelsea during the interim.
In the meantime, this was the day which Grant finally got his substitutions right. Derided for his mismanagement of the Carling Cup final, he repeated the same mistakes against Spurs in the 4-4 draw on Wednesday and, with 20 minutes left, the Chelsea fans' confidence in his ability to get it right was running thin. Ballack was having one of his better games, but Grant wanted to move Michael Essien into midfield, Juliano Belletti in at right-back and sacrifice Makelele for the extra striker Nicolas Anelka.
He was forced into it by Arsenal's goal which was Sagna's first for the club. Just before the hour, Cesc Fabregas struck his corner to the near post where, Salomon Kalou had failed to notice before it was too late, Sagna had run. The right-back got the sweetest of touches to guide the ball into Carlo Cudicini's net.
One goal down, Anelka and Belletti on and Sagna off injured. Within a minute Chelsea equalised. Arsenal failed to deal with Ricardo Carvalho's long ball, it bounced around the box, off Frank Lampard and into the path of Drogba, who had been offside when the original pass was played. In the first half, he had clumsily kneed a through-ball to Manuel Almunia when in on goal. This time he dispatched the equaliser past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
If that was soft then the second will have hurt Wenger even more. This time it was a ball into the area from Belletti, headed on by Anelka and, disastrously for Arsenal, missed by Kolo Touré. With a second to hit his snap-shot in the box, Drogba slammed in the winner. Could Almunia have done better? The ball bounced awkwardly but it was certainly not beyond the powers of the Arsenal goalkeeper to stop it.
There was just a brief flash of that unpleasant Chelsea attitude when goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon made an attempt to announce himself to the world by withholding the ball from Abou Diaby and was asked by the referee Mark Clattenburg to leave the dugout. That was a reminder of the bad old Chelsea, just as the nature of their comeback felt more like the indomitable Chelsea of Mourinho.
Goals: Sagna (59) 0-1; Drogba (73) 1-1; Drogba (82) 2-1.
Chelsea (4-1-4-1): Cudicini; Essien, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Makelele (Anelka, 70); J Cole (Mikel, 89), Ballack (Belletti, 70), Lampard, Kalou; Drogba. Substitutes not used: Hilario (gk), Alex.
Arsenal (4-4-1-1): Almunia; Sagna (Diaby, 71), Touré, Gallas, Clichy; Eboué, Fabregas, Flamini (Bendtner, 89), Van Persie (Walcott, 76); Hleb; Adebayor. Substitutes not used: Lehmann (gk), Senderos.
Referee: M Clattenburg (Tyne and Wear).
Booked: Chelsea J Cole, Ballack, Drogba; Arsenal Eboué.
Man of the match: Drogba.
Attendance: 41,284.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Grant's switches prove there is no substitute for decisive intervention
Kevin McCarra at Stamford BridgeMonday March 24, 2008The Guardian
Here was the Premier League season in miniature for these clubs, with Chelsea doggedly clambering upwards and Arsenal taking a tumble just when it looked as if they had a secure footing with the opening goal. The departure from normality lay in the radical effect that Avram Grant had. If his substitutions had to be deplored when Chelsea slithered to a 4-4 draw at Tottenham then the changes he made yesterday must be applauded
Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka came on to contribute to the winner, the second of Didier Drogba's goals. The chants of "You don't know what you're doing" from his own fans when that pair were introduced to address the 1-0 deficit reflected the lack of confidence in the Grant regime, but no one is entirely clear about Chelsea's actual worth nowadays.
There are rational causes for gladness around Stamford Bridge now that a fixture with a principal rival has finally been won by the Israeli. What is more, Chelsea have overtaken Arsenal to stand second in the table, five points behind the leaders Manchester United, whom they have still to meet on this ground.
The overall situation will please Sir Alex Ferguson and the Old Trafford squad but Chelsea are at least putting up a fight. They will be particularly capable of making heads ring if Drogba can go on landing blows as he did here. The Ivorian must be infuriating to Stamford Bridge devotees, since it sometimes feels as if he had no sooner set down his pen after signing for the club than the tales of his disaffection began to spread.
He was fully engaged yesterday, particularly after the interval. Arsenal were unlucky since Drogba should have been given offside in the build-up to the equaliser as the ball was launched through the middle. Nonetheless, Arsène Wenger's team began to reel from the moment they opened the scoring. That goal from the right-back Bacary Sagna exposed Chelsea's deficiencies at set-pieces, just as Tottenham had done.
The Frenchman broke away from Salomon Kalou and got in front of Frank Lampard to head in a Cesc Fábregas corner from an acute angle at the near post in the 59th minute. Before long, Sagna hurt an ankle and he eventually had to be replaced, a factor that Wenger blamed, in part, for the outbreak of confusion in his back four. As the Arsenal manager knows, of course, his squad have to be far more resilient than this in adversity.
Arsenal have improved this season, but it now looks like the early stage of a revival. In future, a larger squad will be essential and so, too, will be an enhanced hardiness because brittleness has become apparent over the pounding of the long Premier League programme. A five-point lead has, in mercurial fashion, been converted into a six-point deficit.
Arsenal's showing here was good enough for a period to suggest that the club, who had been the last to beat Chelsea on the Premier League here in February 2004, would repeat the feat. They had been developing some enterprise even before they scored, with Mathieu Flamini, for instance, seeing a raking drive blocked by the goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini after 47 minutes.
Chelsea, by and large, had been toiling. The exasperation would have peaked when Kalou, with an opportunity at last, had a fresh-air shot just before the interval. In retrospect it is not too difficult to explain the downfall of Arsenal that lay ahead. Direct football was productive and it took no more than a clearance from John Terry for Drogba to tear through, only for the ball to bounce off his knee as he raced towards Manuel Almunia.
With 17 minutes to go, the striker was initially offside. Permitted to proceed, Drogba pushed a pass towards Frank Lampard and when possession came back to him he shot home confidently, past the left hand of Almunia. The winner, eight minutes from the close, saw Belletti clip a free-kick and Anelka nod it into the centre for an unmarked Drogba to fire into the net.
There might have been a hat-trick for the striker but Almunia made an excellent save after Belletti had pulled a cut-back to him. This victory contained traces of the old Chelsea in the steadfastness shown in a moment of crisis. In addition to seeing Arsenal move in front they also had to put up with handicaps, such as the hip injury that hampered Lampard.
It is, all the same, much too soon to declare that a fresh phase of Chelsea ascendancy is in the making. The hardened sceptic can also quibble over the precise amount of credit due Grant. His alterations to the line-up worked but with the team in arrears it took no feat of imagination to see some worth in sending on Belletti, an attack-minded full-back, and Anelka, an outstanding forward.
There are more delicate judgments to be made while ferrying a lead to the full-time whistle and the knee-jerk use of Alex as a third centre-half just because Tottenham were employing three attackers was misconceived last Wednesday. Grant, overall, has deserved this breathing space. Chelsea's consistency against the lesser teams was not to be sniffed at since other clubs have found it elusive. Now, too, Grant has taken a prize scalp in the Premier League.
Expressions of gratitude to Chelsea are unfashionable because the sheer wealth of the club seems to exclude affection for them. Nonetheless, it is they, with United due here on April 26, who have sustained a little suspense over the outcome of the Premier League contest.
How the managers compared
Selection
Avram Grant Michael Essien at right-back made this an attack-minded team, reflecting Chelsea's need
Arsène Wenger Resisted temptation to start with Theo Walcott, selecting Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Eboué; arguably strongest line-up
Tactics
Grant With Makelele deep, Lampard and Ballack supported an attacking trio. Switched to 4-4-2 before reverting to type in the last few minutes
Wenger Two midfield holders with Van Persie joining Eboué in supporting down flanks
Motivation
Grant Touchline demeanour rarely veers from impassive, yet Drogba's double had Israeli punching the air
Wenger Flashes of frustration before Sagna scored. Mood darkened by the end as realisation of defeat set in
Substitutions
Grant Introduction of Anelka and Beletti proved masterful and,
ultimately, match-winning
Wenger Injury forced Abou Diaby's entry for Sagna; Walcott for Van Persie was similarly like-for-like. Bendtner's arrival reflected desperate times
Verdict
Grant This, possibly, was the day Grant proved his quality
Wenger His team's confidence is ebbing away before his eyes---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mail:
Avram's wish is Granted as Chelsea star Drogba sinks ArsenalChelsea 2 Arsenal 1
By NEIL ASHTON
Avram Grant: Tactical Genius.
All those coaching seminars in Israel, all those mistakes in high-profile matches and all those moments of indecision have finally paid off.
"You don't know what you're doing," sang Chelsea's fans in the 70th minute. Oh yes he did.
He brought off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, replaced them with Juliano Belletti and Nicolas Anelka and swapped 4-3-3 for 4-4-2. Genius.
Three minutes later they were level and eight minutes from time they were back in the hunt for the Barclays Premier League title.
That appeared to be unthinkable when they threw away maximum points at White Hart Lane last Wednesday and unpalatable after Bacary Sagna had put Arsenal ahead.
Suddenly it has become a distinct possibility. Who would have thought it?
Certainly no one inside Stamford Bridge when puzzled Chelsea supporters began singing the name of Jose Mourinho as Grant made the substitutions that appeared to land this game right in Arsenal's laps.
The Special One was at home with his feet up in Setubal, switching between the TV remote, sipping champagne and chuckling to himself as Chelsea set about surrendering their remarkable 77-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge.
The bubbles had almost burst. Arsenal had the game won.
The spirit of the San Siro swept through the Gunners, confidence flooded through them after William Gallas's pep talk on the pitch before the match and they dictated the tempo.
Sagna's goal put them back in the hunt for their first League title since the Invincibles in 2004.
Forget the draws with Birmingham, Aston Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough: this was the real Arsenal.
High energy when the stakes are high. Instead, they are for the high jump.
"We should have won, but couldn't cope with Chelsea's long balls," said manager Arsene Wenger.
"Defensively, we have problems."
No kidding.
Gallas failed to clear when Drogba scored Chelsea's 73rd-minute equaliser and the Arsenal captain, along with central defensive partner Kolo Toure, were to blame when they conceded another.
"This is a big setback," admitted Wenger. "We are not short of confidence, but we have drawn four of our last five games.
"We had lapses in concentration and we have paid for it. We have to swallow it, but we were in control. Chelsea played long balls and we couldn't deal with it."
More accurately they could not deal with Drogba.
Gallas kept him quiet, making him stew for 45 minutes before he finally made an impact.
When he did, Drogba was ruthless.
The shirt was ripped off when he slid towards the Chelsea fans after he lashed the equaliser beyond Manuel Almunia.
Then came his second with a swivelled finish. Almunia got a touch, but the strike was too clean and too sweet for the Arsenal keeper.
"It was about time he did that," said Grant. "We had a few players who came back from the Africa Cup of Nations who were not in the best condition, but he is better now."
Drogba has done for Arsenal. Wenger will not admit it — he is too stubborn — but his team could not cope with the aerial bombardment after Grant's impressive changes.
Arsenal were nine points clear of Chelsea on February 23 and are now one point behind them.
They were six ahead of Manchester United at the same stage, but now they are lagging behind.
Not quite Devon Loch, but Wenger is flogging a dead horse.
They were in the home straight when they beat Blackburn on February 11, but Wenger has the international week to brood about the worst run at the club in nine years. That has to hurt.
He should spend the next seven days on Fantasy Island after complaining that Drogba's first goal was offside, but at least Grant is living in the real world.
With seven games to go, Chelsea are in the chase. Five points behind United — who visit Stamford Bridge on April 26. Absorbing stuff.
Little wonder that gladiator Grant entered the auditorium with something of a swagger. Someone had just told him that he had become the most successful manager in Chelsea's history with a 76 per cent win rate in the League (compared to you know who's 75.25). Absurd.
This was the man who could not beat a big team, remember. Beaten by Manchester United in his first game, beaten at Arsenal in December, beaten by Tottenham in the Carling Cup Final and beaten by Barnsley in the FA Cup.
The margin for error is wafer thin, but at least Grant is the first to recognise it.
"Sometimes the substitutions work, sometimes they don't," he added.
"We want to have two ways of playing and I told John Terry to tell the rest of the players to switch to 4-4-2. We had two good chances before we equalised, but I'm just glad the substitutions worked out."
Lucky manager? Well, it is better than being a losing one. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mirror:
KISS OF LIFE EASTER SLAM DAY CHELSEA 2 ARSENAL 1FROM STAMFORD BRIDGE
Drogba fires Chelsea into second place and turns Grant into real Special One Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer Avram Grant turned the title race on its head last night - and transformed himself into Chelsea's new Special One.
Four days after his tactical tinkering cost Chelsea two vital points at Spurs, the Blues boss was staring at a cataclysmic defeat which would have ended his side's remarkable unbeaten home record and surely spelled the end of his reign.
With Chelsea trailing to Bacary Sagna's close-range header, Blues fans turned on Grant as he boldly hauled off Michael Ballack and Claude Makelele, sending on Nicolas Anelka and Juliano Belletti as he switched to an orthodox 4-4-2.
Chelsea supporters chanted "You don't know what you're doing," and bellowed the name of their long-lost Special One.
It was as much a statement of contempt as Ashley Cole's behaviour towards Mike Riley at White Hart Lane four days earlier, the Chelsea fans seemingly desperate to condemn the manager they have never really accepted.
But Jose Mourinho himself could not have masterminded such a dramatic turnaround.
The move which could have killed Grant instead unleashed the predatory beast within striker Didier Drogba, who capitalised on Arsenal's sudden defensive disarray to fire a two-goal salvo which turned the game. Within a minute of the switch Drogba was clearly offside when Belletti pumped forward, although he had got back into an onside position by the time his attempted pass to Frank Lampard fell back at his feet.
And there was no doubting the finish as Drogba drilled into the bottom corner of the net to haul Chelsea level.
And when he claimed his 13th of the season eight minutes from time to kill off Arsenal, there was no arguing with the impact on both clubs' seasons.
This time Belletti's early free-kick found Anelka out-jumping William Gallas to nod down and with Kolo Toure losing his balance, Drogba was able to spin and find the other corner despite Manuel Almunia getting a touch.
It was a shocking way for Arsenal to go down to only their second league defeat of the season - now the side which could have been eight points clear a month ago suddenly finds itself out of the top two.
No wonder Grant responded like a man possessed, pumping his fists at the final whistle after finally picking up the "big" win he has sought to bolster his reign all season.
Incredibly, Grant has picked up six points more than Arsene Wenger since replacing Mourinho in September.
And in gaining 57 points out of the 75 available during his reign, he has a marginally better league record, percentage-wise, than the Portuguese during his three years in charge.
Not that any of that mattered last night for Grant, who must have been fearing the worst when Sagna was allowed to get on the end of Cesc Fabegas' near-post corner and divert home his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini paid for failing to have a team-mate on the post. At that point you would not have given a prayer for Grant. Even though his side had remained level at the break, Arsenal had been growing in confidence.
Robin van Persie snatched at one opportunity and Cudicini, all over the place, was bailed out by John Terry after heading straight to Emmanuel Eboue before hacking the ball virtually off his own goalline.
Six minutes before the break, Chelsea's uncertainty at set-pieces was underlined when Gallas turned Toure's header against the post, although an offside flag had gone up.
Just after Sagna had nudged home, Ashley Cole missed a back-post sitter and the writing seemed on the wall for Chelsea and Grant.
By the end, though, everything had changed.
Grant lives on, emboldened, invigorated and with the title still possible.
Wenger, by contrast, was a study in dejection. Who would have believed it? But they still won't chant Grant's name.
Chelsea: Cudicini 6, Essien 6, Carvalho 7, Terry 7, A Cole 7, Ballack 6 (Belletti, 70, 7), Makelele 6 (Anelka, 70, 7), Lampard 7, J Cole 7 (Mikel, 88), Drogba 8, Kalou 6
Arsenal: Almunia 6, Sagba 7 (Diaby, 72, 5) Toure 6, Gallas 5, Clichy 7, Eboue 7, Fabregas 7, Hleb 6, Flamini 6 (Bendtner, 88), Van Persie 6 (Walcott, 77), Adebayor 5
Chelsea v Arsenal
52% POSSESSION 48%
7 SHOTS ON TARGET 6
3 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5
5 OFFSIDES 1
4 CORNERS 2
11 FOULS 14
3 YELLOW CARDS 1
0 RED CARDS 0
ATTENDANCE: 41,824
Man Of The Match: Drogba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sun:
Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1
CHELSEA fans will not find it easy but they will have to consider a new chant about manager Avram Grant: You
DO know what you’re doing!
Blues supporters were sharpening the knives again for Grant, as he made a controversial double substitution on 70 minutes with the home side trailing to a Bacary Sagna header.
They were furious at the introduction of right-back Juliano Belletti for midfielder Michael Ballack, immediately after Nicolas Anelka had replaced Claude Makelele.
Chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ rang round the ground, followed by a chorus for much-loved former boss Jose Mourinho.
Grant had been heavily criticised five days earlier for his substitutions at Tottenham, where Chelsea conceded a late goal to draw 4-4, and it seemed he had messed up once more.
But this time the Israeli had the last laugh, as Didier Drogba struck twice to turn the game around.
The winner came with eight minutes left, after the two subs had combined to set up the Ivory Coast star.
It still was not enough for Grant to get any credit, with the fans preferring to get stuck into former Blue and current Arsenal skipper William Gallas.
Yet the result means Chelsea are now Manchester United’s closest challengers in the Premier League title race, only five points adrift. It was the first time Grant had won against one of the top teams and they host United at the Bridge on April 26.
Despite all their off-field troubles and claims of in-fighting, they are hanging in there.
Drogba wants to leave in the summer and has little or no rapport with Grant. But he is still doing the business.
His two goals made it 13 for his club in a season in which he has suffered a prolonged injury absence and been on duty at the African Nations Cup.
As for Arsenal, their title challenge is falling apart.
They had drawn their previous four games to lose top spot and manager Arsene Wenger had vowed they would get back on track and win the championship.
But this second league defeat of the season could be a mortal blow.
It was great news for United boss Alex Ferguson. He joked he wanted both these teams to lose but a victory for Chelsea was far preferable to one for Arsenal.
Gallas had wanted a win badly and went round his players at the start eyeballing them all, telling them to show ‘no fear’. Yet there appeared to be fear on both sides, even to tackle, because of the FA’s current clampdown on discipline.
Nobody wanted to put a foot in and it was definitely somewhat tame for the first half.
There were a lot of long balls from Chelsea and Drogba should have scored when he raced on to John Terry’s hoof. But he lost control and Manuel Almunia gathered.
Salomon Kalou had an air shot from six yards and Almunia saved superbly to his left from Ballack.
The game came to life in the second half, sparked by right-back Sagna’s header on 59 minutes.
Cesc Fabregas delivered a corner to the near post and Sagna got ahead of Kalou and Frank Lampard to head his first Arsenal goal as Carlo Cudicini scrambled across in vain to keep it out.
Soon after, Sagna had to go off as he twisted an ankle clearing the ball and the visitors lost their shape.
Grant made his substitutions, putting former Gunner Anelka up front alongside Drogba and switching Michael Essien from right-back into midfield.
Despite the vitriol from the stands, Chelsea were level within three minutes — though Wenger complained it should have been disallowed for offside against both Drogba and Anelka. His argument was a strong one. But the linesman missed it and Drogba met Belletti’s through ball as it sailed over Gallas. He took a return pass from Lampard and then rifled a low shot beyond Almunia.
Drogba whipped his shirt off in celebration, earning a booking in the process. On another day, it would have driven him demented. But he merely patted referee Mark Clattenburg on the shoulder and trotted off.
Gallas and Kolo Toure were struggling to cope with Chelsea’s two-pronged attack and Anelka scuffed a good chance wide.
But on 82 minutes Chelsea bagged the winner. It was started by coach Steve Clarke, who jumped off the bench to encourage Belletti to take a quick free-kick.
The delivery was perfect and Anelka climbed above Gallas to flick the ball on.
Toure lost his footing and Drogba swivelled and shot home via Almunia’s outstretched right hand.
As time ticked down, the Chelsea goalkeeping coach Christophe Lolichon was sent off for not giving the ball back to Abou Diaby.
Not much respect there and none from ex-Arsenal man Ashley Cole, as he cocked an ear to the Gunners supporters mocking them about the score.
Considering the stick that he had taken all game, we can let Ashley off for once.