Chelsea vs. Arsenal: Alvaro Morata, Lacazette stifled by ongoing hexes

Chelsea and Arsenal both needed a wing-back and a No. 10 to score in Wednesday’s London derby, as their respective strikers could not break their recent hexes.

Wednesday’s London derby was not just evenly matched – it was symmetrical. Goalless at the half, 2-2 at the final. The opening goal-scorers for each team wore the No. 10 jersey: Jack Wilshere and Eden Hazard. The second goals for each team came from the wing-backs who battled all night on Chelsea’s left: Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin.

The rivals’ strikers – both summer signings and wearing the standard No. 9 – were both absent from the scoresheet, despite each having three shots. Alex Lacazette put all three on Thibaut Courtois, while Alvaro Morata sent two of his tragicomically off the mark.

Lacazette extended his goalless spell to seven games, while Morata continued his habit of not putting away simple goal-scoring opportunities. Chelsea and Arsenal fans (and supporters) will debate whose form is more concerning, and who should have made the difference midweek at the Emirates.

"Arsenal don’t need someone else, they have adequate depth behind Lacazette. They just need to feed him – he’s making great runs but the attack is often slow in developing and ignores him. – Pain in the Arsenal"

Lacazette at least challenged Chelsea’s keeper. Morata, on the other hand, let Petr Cech off the hook. The closer Morata is to goal, the fewer defenders between him and the keeper (zero, as was the case each time against Arsenal), the more direct angle to the net… the bigger the miss.

Alvaro Morata has become seemingly dependent on three things to score: Cesar Azpilicueta, a header and a high level of difficulty. If Azpilicueta curls in a 20-yard pass and Morata has to out-jump two centre-backs to arc the ball deftly into the far corner, the ball is in the net. A bread-and-butter tap-in at the far post, though, or a one-on-one with the keeper? Cue the Fernando Torres comparisons.

Morata’s six headed Premier League goals so far this season match his career high, set last year at Real Madrid. Those six headed goals made up 40% of his total output. This season the ratio is up to 60%.

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Alvaro Morata showed one of the hallmark signs of an unconfident striker against Arsenal: the extra touches, each revealing one or more superfluous thoughts about how to finish the play. Morata was not playing instinctively with the ball at this feet. In the time between taking possession and coming face-to-face with Petr Cech, he surrendered the elements of surprise and control along with the shooting angle. He had too much time and too many options, and Cech’s imposing figure took them all away.

Long crosses from Azpilicueta present no such confounding luxuries. When Morata sees the ball sailing in from mid-depth on Chelsea’s right, all he can do is jump, head and celebrate. A moment of pure, distilled striker. Morata needs to work with Antonio Conte, Eden Hazard, Cesc Fabregas and Thibaut Courtois on the training ground to create that simple mental state for balls on the ground. More importantly, he must be able to create it when he has time and space alone – with his thoughts and with the ball – against the goalkeeper.

Last season, Chelsea fans (including this one) expressed concern when Diego Costa went three consecutive Premier League games without scoring a goal. Costa had several such incidents in the preceding season, but only once in his career did he go four league games without a goal.

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Alvaro Morata has had one such period in his debut season in the Premier League, and his current goalless “streak” is at two games. As Antonio Conte pointed out, the real concern would be if Alvaro Morata was not creating chances. His three one-on-one’s with Petr Cech are frustrating more than they are troubling, and are hardly a sign for panic or buyer’s remorse.