Chelsea FC 0-1 Arsenal: FA Community Shield Reflections
Tale Of Two Keepers
Sunday’s game showed clearly why Thibaut Courtois was elevated to first choice goalkeeper ahead of Petr Cech last season. It also showed why Roman Abramovich’s decision to sanction the sale of Petr Cech to Arsenal was a big mistake.
The goal aside (which was largely down to Azpilicueta’s uncharacteristic poor performance), Courtois was inspired on the day. His positioning was top-notch all game long, and he managed to make difficult saves look routine, especially Theo Walcott’s glancing header to the near post from Ozil’s free-kick.
He was also on hand to prevent Arsenal from extending the lead from 2 one-on-one situations with Santi Cazorla and Kieran Gibbs by coming off his line as quickly as possible to block any route to goal. But the most impressive of them was the strike from Carzola which he managed to save easily despite the double deflection off Terry and Cahill.
Mourinho, in his post-match press conference, praised Arsenal’s uncharacteristic defensive resilience, and he was spot on. But while Arsenal were willing to sacrifice their attacking fluidity to be more secure defensively, one of Petr Cech’s major strengths played a large part in this regard…defensive co-ordination.
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Even when Hazard was able to latch on to Fabregas’ through ball, Laurent Koscielny’s starting position in the box ensured that he was close enough to take advantage of Hazard’s slight hesitation and put him off shooting accurately. For a side known to be shaky from set-piece situations, the Gunners were able to deal comfortably with all of Chelsea’s set-pieces, with Cech playing a big part.
Petr Cech wasn’t called to make any extraordinary saves in the game, which was a clear indication of how compact and resolute Arsenal were in carrying out their defensive duties.
Arsenal essentially ‘parked the bus’ to hold on to their one-goal lead, a point Wenger was all too willing to acknowledge in his post-match press conference, which bodes well for the future of the club (more on that later!). But Cech’s calm presence behind the defensive line made it possible, especially during the last few minutes when the players began to show signs of nervousness.
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