Arsenal see red in derby
Zouma, Hazard do it for Blues as West Ham clip City’s wings
KURT Zouma and Eden Hazard scored as Chelsea exploited the dismissals of Gabriel and Santi Cazorla to beat Arsenal 2-0 yesterday and revive their Premier League title defence.
Gabriel was sent off late in the first half after a tussle with the provocative Diego Costa and Zouma, playing in place of his captain John Terry, put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute.
Cazorla was shown a second yellow card for sliding in on Cesc Fabregas and Hazard made the game safe a minute from time with a shot that beat former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech via a sizeable deflection.
It was for Chelsea a first home league win of the campaign and, arriving on the back of Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Champions League, fired hope that Jose Mourinho’s side may yet salvage something despite making their worst start to a season in 29 years.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had overcome Mourinho for the first time in last month’s Community Shield, but here found himself in the familiar position of having been eclipsed by his Portuguese nemesis. The Gunners haven’t beaten the Blues in the league since October 2011.
Mourinho said Terry’s omission was “tactical” and it seemed to reflect concern over the pace of Theo Walcott, who got in behind Chelsea’s defence early on and rounded goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, only to run the ball out.
Back at a ground he had called home for 11 years, Cech was by far the busier keeper.
Costa, characteristically, was the catalyst, wildly lashing out at Laurent Koscielny inside the Arsenal box and then clashing with Gabriel, which saw both players booked.
But Costa continued to goad Gabriel as the players walked down the pitch and when the centre-back reacted with a sly kick, referee Mike Dean brandished the red card.
Eight minutes into the second half, Arsenal lost parity in the match.
Fabregas floated a left-of-centre free kick towards the far post and Zouma stole behind Koscielny and Nacho Monreal to plant a header past Cech.
Moments later Cech parried a powerful strike from Hazard, who also shot narrowly wide.
Arsenal’s chances vanished 12 minutes from time when Cazorla caught Fabregas on the ankle and joined Gabriel in the changing room, with Hazard’s deflected strike securing the points.
Also last night, Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho ended Manchester City’s 11-match run of consecutive Premier League victories as West Ham United recorded a stunning 2-1 success at Eastlands.
Without injured centre-half and captain Vincent Kompany, City conceded goals for the first time this season and looked vulnerable in defence.
After West Ham’s first-half strikes, a goal from Kevin de Bruyne just before the interval gave City hope of salvaging a GIANT IN BLUE: Chelsea’s French defender Kurt Zouma is jubilant after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League match against archrivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, London, yesterday point and set up a second half of non-stop pressure.
City came into the contest having not conceded a goal in the previous 566 minutes of English Premier League football but took just six minutes to allow West Ham to score, and a further 25 to let in a second.
The home side had already threatened with an early header from Eliaquim Mangala which was punched clear by Adrian, by the time West Ham took the lead through Moses, the winger on loan from Chelsea and playing just his second game for the visitors.
Just after the half hour, Dmitri Payet’s disputed rightwing corner was headed goalwards by Winston Reid, Fernandinho was slow to clear and Pedro Obiang was able to steer the ball across goal for Sakho to hook in, under pressure.
City remain top of the table on 15 points from six matches.
In other Premier League results yesterday, newly promoted Bournemouth recorded a 2-0 victory over struggling Sunderland and Watford boosted their chances of staying up in the elite league with a 2-1 win at poor Newcastle United.— AFP