Exhilarating win finally banishes the blues.

We had gone eleven games without a victory over Man Utd or Chelsea and Didier Drogba had never lost against us when starting the match but we made a mockery of those statistics by simply outplaying the champions.

Perhaps it had something to do with our manager finally recognising the strengths of the opposition by deploying Johan Djourou to counter Drogba’s aerial dominance and Theo Walcott to peg Ashley Cole back. Arsene Wenger has always been reluctant to adapt our tactics to the opposition that we face, with the most recent example coming at Old Trafford where Ferguson outclassed us tactically. Fortunately Wenger did alter our approach for Monday’s game, even highlighting Drogba as the main threat before the match, something he has never done in the past despite the Ivorian’s remarkable record against us.

The first half was an intense affair but we dominated possession and gradually seized control of the midfield. Alexandre Song had clearly been instructed to hold a deeper position in the midfield to provide the shield for our defence that his marauding runs frequently deny us. He did not completely neglect the attacking side of the game but was able to make sensible decisions as to when he should make a contribution in the final third rather than surging forward at every opportunity.

Ironically it was one of these rare bursts that gave us the lead just before half time. The tireless Jack Wilshere engineered an opening on the edge of the box which Cesc Fabregas was about to take advantage of before he was sent tumbling by Ferreira, Mark Clattenburg didn’t get the chance to award the penalty as Song swooped on the ball and directed his shot into the bottom corner with his left foot. The players mobbed him and the Grove gave the team a rousing  send off when the half time whistle blew a couple of minutes later. We have become so used to Chelsea snatching goals just before the break but this time we had dealt the first blow.

As soon as the second half began we demonstrated our superior hunger when Fabregas immediately intercepted the ball from the Chelsea kick off. Our captain is getting back to his best after a frustrating first half to the season and even though his booking on Monday was undeserved he will benefit from another enforced rest on Wednesday when he serves his one game suspension.

The buoyant crowd only had to wait until the fifty first minute before the captain doubled the lead. Robin van Persie held the ball up well before Essien’s challenge inadvertently sent Walcott through. A heavy first touch gave Petr Cech the advantage but Theo had the awareness to square the ball for Fabregas to fire into an empty net. Before the Grove could catch its’ breath Fabregas returned the favour with a perfectly weighted ball which was dispatched into the far corner emphatically by the devastating Walcott. A ludicrous scoreline was now being displayed on the big screen and everyone in the ground momentarily lost composure. The fans began to ole and the players slipped into their familiar complacent mode, we were asking for trouble. Ivanovic duly dampened the mood four minutes later with a simple header from Drogba’s free kick and it looked like we would be in for a nervous finish. However it never materialised as we upped our work rate again and comfortably dealt with a one-dimensional Chelsea threat. With five minutes left the Grove could relax and enjoy a memorable victory.

Photo: Action Images

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