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The London derby between English giants Chelsea and Arsenal produced an eight-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge as Arsenal ran away 5-3 winners. Robin van Persie was the hero for Arsenal as he scored a hat-trick to turn things around for Arsenal, who were 2-1 down at half-time. Both defences were shockingly below par, with the game producing numerous clear cut goal scoring opportunities. Frank Lampard, John Terry and Juan Mata were the scorers for Chelsea while Theo Walcott and Andre Santos added the other two for Arsenal.
Chelsea
Petr Cech-4/10 His bad run continued as Chelsea conceded five goals. The Czech goalie could've done much better to deny Walcott, Santos and two of the three Van Persie's goals.
Jose Bosingwa-5/10 He went forward well in the 1st half but had trouble dealing with Gervinho in the 2nd. His positional mistake led to the Santos goal and the beginning of the Arsenal fightback.
Branislav Ivanovic-5/10 He was impressive in the 1st half, making some vital tackles but like the other Chelsea players his performance also went down in the 2nd half. The Serbian should've marked Gervinho better, his poor marking led to one of Van Persie's goals.
John Terry-5/10 He made some good interceptions and scored Chelsea's 2nd through Lampard's corner but his disastrous slip led to Arsenal's 4th.
Ashley Cole-6/10 He made penetrative runs forward in the 1st half but his bad positioning in the 2nd scarred an otherwise deent performance.
John Obi Mikel-5/10 Mikel looked confident in the holding midfielder's position and tracked back well when the full backs attacked.
Ramires-6/10 He was quiet in the beginning but made a great run in the 39th minute to cross in the ball for Sturridge, only to be denied a goal by the offside flag. He carried out his defensive duties quite well.
Frank Lampard-6/10 He headed in the 1st for Chelsea from a Juan Mata cross and even provided the assist for the 2nd with a good corner. The Englishman passed the ball around well, but his impact reduced as the game wore on.
Juan Mata-/10 He was the most creative player for the Blues and put in a beautiful cross for Lampard leading to the 1st goal. The Spaniard's movement was excellent and scored a beauty of a goal to make it 3-3, curling in the ball with his left foot.
Daniel Sturridge-6/10 He was all-over Santos in the 1st half but couldn't find the decisive pass in the attacking half. Although he had a goal disallowed in the 1st half, he was later taken off to be replaced by Malouda after the restart.
Fernando Torres-5/10 He looked out of sorts and couldn't make an impact for Chelsea. He was not as sharp in the attacking third as one would've hoped.
Subs:
Florent Malouda- 4/10 He came on for Sturridge and wasn't able to make any difference. His back pass to Terry led to Van Persie's 2nd and Arsenal's 4th.
Romelu Lukaku-3/10 The youngster came on for Ramires in the 72nd minute but he wasn't able to trouble the defenders much to the manager's disappointment.
Raul Meireles-5/10 He came on for Mikel later on and made some good long passes.
Arsenal
Wojciech Szczesny-6/10 The young goalie couldn't have done much about the goals, especially with the defenders ahead of him letting him down with some slack marking.
Johan Djourou-4/10 He had all sorts of problems dealing with Ashley Cole and was very disappointing at the back. Even though he settled in the 2nd half, he was replaced by the young Carl Jenkinson.
Per Mertesacker-5/10 He was weak at the back and displayed bad positioning at times. He should've done better to deny Lampard and Terry from scoring. But he regained his composure after the break to keep Chelsea largely at bay.
Laurent Koscielny-6/10 He was the best amongst Arsenal the back-four and the only one who didn't look shaky at the back. He had a very decent game on the whole.
Andres Santos-4/10 He was very bad in the 1st half, having trouble dealing with Bosingwa and Sturridge. But he was a changed player in the 2nd half as he scored for Arsenal early on and even kept Bosingwa quiet.
Alex Song-6/10 He was quite decent in the middle of the park and provided the assist for Santos' goal.
Aaron Ramsey-7/10 The young midfielder had a very good game, creating the 1st goal for Arsenal with a great ball to Gervinho. He got into some dangerous areas but couldn't get on the score sheet.
Mikel Arteta-6/10 The Spaniard passed the ball around accurately and provided the assist for the 5th Arsenal goal. The former Everton man kept the ball well.
Theo Walcott-6/10 He put in some dangerous balls early on and then got his reward in the second half as he twisted and turned past his fellow English team mate Ashley Cole to score Arsenal's 3rd.
Gervinho-6/10 The youngster had a good game. He did cause problems down the left wing at times and selflessly passed to Van Persie leading to Arsenal's 1st.
Robin Van Persie-9/10 He single-handedly won the game for the Gunners once again, scoring a wonderful hat-trick in the process. His 1st goal was quite simple but his 2nd and 3rd were quite remarkable. He dribbled past Cech and scored his 2nd and then sealed the victory with a thunderous left footed finish in injury time.
Subs:
Carl Jenkinson-5/10 He came on for Djourou and did what was asked from him by bringing some stability down the right side.
Tomas Rosicky-5/10 He came on for Walcott in the 79th minute and made some good attacking runs.
Thomas Vermaelen- N/A He came on for Gervinho to strengthen the defence quite late and didn't really have much work to do.
Click here for the Match Report
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