Outgunned yet again

HIGHER examination time in the Premiership and, once again, it was a fail for Arsenal and honours for Chelsea.

Possession may be nine-tenths of the law but in football it’s worth a big fat zero without the finishing touch. For that you need a finisher but Arsenal didn’t have one at Stamford Bridge yesterday.

Chelsea did, the crucial goal coming in the first half from Didier Drogba. That was the game-changer, the one which allowed Carlo Ancelotti to do a classic Italian job on Arsene Wenger in the second half, as Chelsea erected a formidable blue wall which Arsenal, for all their familiar finesse, simply found impenetrable. And the more they tried, the more likely it was that, playing clinically on the break, Chelsea would extend their lead. Rope-a-dope gave way to counter-punching, and these heavyweight champions do that combination better than anyone else in the Premiership.