Chelsea have become a chore to watch and Enzo Maresca had no answers against Arsenal
Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 thanks to a Mikel Merino goal, with Enzo Maresca's Blues turning in a toothless performance where they mustered just two shots on target
by Mike Walters · The MirrorMikel Merino's header put Arsenal back on course for a hat-trick of near misses with the title.
But after just four wins in 13 Premier League games, the sands are shifting beneath Enzo Maresca and watching Chelsea has become an intractable chore. For the Gunners, all roads lead to Madrid after the international break, and Arsenal’s synonymous scoreline keeps the engine ticking over ahead of their Champions League moment of truth.
But for Maresca, too many roads are going up dead ends. He was given a mixed reception by travelling fans on the final whistle, but the hanging judges are out in force on social media. Don’t mention the chore?
Champions League football is coming to west London next season - but at this rate it will be three stops down the District Line from Fulham Broadway. Once a red-letter duel in the title race, this was a dance of the also-rans, two gilded rivals squabbling over the left-over sausage rolls when the bourgeoisie at Wembley were tucking into caviar and lobster thermidor.
Arsenal we can deal with in short measure. They deserved to win because they were markedly superior in the first half and the Blues were restricted to only one meaningful shot on target in 90 minutes.
But Chelsea’s toothless scuffling, a malaise which set in around Christmas, was an alarming spectacle - nowhere near good enough for a £1 billion squad. Somehow they have gone from Didier Drogba masterclasses, Diego Costa wind-up seminars or Eden Hazard leading Arsenal a merry dance to this.
Chelsea were marmalised 5-0 at the Emirates 11 months ago, a nadir which effectively sealed Mauricio Pochettino’s fate as head coach. This time, in the absence of top scorer Cole Palmer, for 45 minutes they were determined to be even worse.
And by the time they gained the upper hand territorially, the Gunners were well-set. Leandro Trossard had already squandered two big chances, and Declan Rice had volleyed over the top after a comical spasm of pinball in the Blues’ six-yard box, by the time Merino nodded the Gunners’ winner after 18 minutes.
In the absence of Arsenal’s platoon of injured forwards, Merino has his limitations as a makeshift No.9 - but he stepped up to the plate at Leicester last month and his near-post header from Martin Odegaard’s corner looped over Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea’s immediate response was to try and bully their way back into the match. Wesley Fofana was lucky to escape with no card at all - not even a yellow - for leaving his imprint on Rice, and VAR Jarred Gillett’s interpretation of gratuitous spite was a travesty.
Then Enzo Fernandez, the £105 million player whose price tag was clearly a misprint, showed more enthusiasm for antagonising Gabriel than his advanced role as an auxiliary forward. In the blue corner, the irate away fans were unimpressed by Chelsea’s failure to register a single touch in the opposition box for 36 minutes.
When the visitors eventually responded to their advice - “Attack, attack, attack” - Marc Cucurella’s angled volley was fumbled horribly by David Raya but the bar of soap span agonisingly wide of a post.
At the other end Sanchez, recovering from his shaky start, parried Merino’s volley smartly before it could cross the line. But that was a lonely highlight as the second half degenerated into artless, witless scuffling.
You know - the kind of scuffling that costs more or less £1 billion to assemble. Chelsea could still win a trophy in Europe this season because they should be too strong for Smorgasbord Rovers and Herdy Gerdy Rangers in the Thursday Night Conference League. But shhhh… don’t mention the chore.
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