Chelsea v Arsenal 1:2

From SHAUN CUSTIS at Stamford Bridge

Published: 30 Nov 2008

The Sun

ARSENAL love Robin’ from the rich at football’s top table.

If only they could stop giving to the poor they would be right in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners added Chelsea to the scalp of Manchester United in a baffling start to the season which has also seen them lose to the likes of Hull, Fulham and Stoke.

It was their very own Robin Hood, Robin van Persie, who plundered the spoils from a shell-shocked Blues.

The Dutchman scored twice — the first clearly offside — in the space of three minutes around the hour mark to turn this game on its head after Chelsea had apparently been on their way to victory when Johan Djourou put through his own goal in the first half.

Not many expected this result, especially the bookies who were quoting Arsenal at odds as long as 5-1 to win.

But with the return of Emmanuel Adebayor after a lengthy injury absence and Van Persie finding his way back to form this was a reinvigorated Gunners.

Adebayor has been badly missed and he figured in both goals.

You feel Chelsea could do with their most potent attacking weapon, Didier Drogba, back too.

Love him or hate him, Drogba gives Chelsea an extra aggressive edge which was lacking here.

When he hasn’t been off talking to Inter Milan about a transfer, Drogba has been either injured or suspended and, while Nicolas Anelka has discovered the route to goal, there is no substitute for the Drog.

The Blues have only lost two Premier League home games in 4½ years but both have come under new boss Phil Scolari in the space of just over a month — the other being against Liverpool.

Jose Mourinho did not lose a single league game at Stamford Bridge in his entire reign.

And Scolari is developing an unwanted reputation for failing to do the business against the big boys, having also slipped up with a home draw against Manchester United.

They could not make the most of the comedy of errors from Arsenal which gifted them the lead.

Keeper Manuel Almunia caught the ball and bowled it out into no-man’s-land to the surprise of right-back Jose Boswinga, who collected and stormed forward.

The Portuguese defender exchanged passes with Anelka and fired in a low cross which was turned in at the near post by the unfortunate Djourou — a Swiss with particularly bad timing.

It was a goal symptomatic of the Gunners’ troubles this season where they have been guilty of numerous defensive errors. But Van Persie signalled Arsenal were not going to simply accept another defeat and his shot on the turn tested Petr Cech, who saved well to his left.

Chelsea lost their way and their finishing was none too clever, either, with Anelka putting a diving header well wide and the usually reliable Frank Lampard shooting badly wide from 20 yards — a position where he invariably buries the ball in the bottom corner.

Arsenal were back in it on 59 minutes when Adebayor leapt to win a header and Samir Nasri fed Denilson.

The midfielder chested down and played in Van Persie, who was offside, but the flag never came and he rattled the equaliser high into the net.

Scolari did some moaning about that one afterwards and about another decision when Salomon Kalou was through on goal only to be given offside when he was onside.

The Brazilian insisted: “We lost today because one goal was not a goal — and it was a goal which changed the result.”

So at least one thing is clear — he may not be getting Mourinho’s results but he is starting to whinge like him.

A stunned Chelsea crowd were rocked again when Adebayor climbed high once more to find Van Persie, who spun round brilliantly and smacked a low drive between Lampard’s legs and just inside the post.

Manager Arsene Wenger, who has kept faith with his beleaguered troops throughout this difficult campaign, was off the bench celebrating — which is a rare sight this season.

And he had little cause for concern as the clock ticked down and Chelsea ran out of ideas.

William Gallas, making his return to the Bridge, won praise from Wenger for his part in keeping Chelsea at bay.

But the behaviour of Gallas, who was sacked as Arsenal captain for criticising his team-mates, was as curious as ever.

On each Arsenal goal he merely trotted back to his position for the kick-off while his team-mates engulfed Van Persie.

Then, at full-time, he strolled to the match officials to shake their hands while his team-mates jumped all over one other.

But then Gallas walked towards the corner where the Arsenal fans were congregated and threw his shirt into the throng while half of his team-mates followed suit in an apparent display of unity.

“William Gallas is a red, he hates Chelsea,” sang the ecstatic Gunners fans.

Could it be that Arsenal are on the way back, all pulling together in the same direction?

The acid test will come next week when the small fry are back in town — it’s Wigan at home.