Blues on the march as Gunners fall flat

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 2

And Mata believes a great week for the club now puts them in good stead to go on and win the Premier League.

“Looking at the opponents that we had this week [Arsenal and Manchester City], we’ve beaten two of the best teams in Europe,” Mata said last night.

“I think it shows we are ready to fight for the [Premier League] title.”

It was a grim night for Wenger. “I think it was tight game decided by one or two mistakes,” he said afterwards.

“We gave them a chance to counter-attack when we went 1-0 and we didn’t create many chances ourselves.

“We have to respond well against Liverpool on Saturday because we are in a strong position in the league.”

Wenger must be sick of the sight of Mourinho though after his team were outclassed. The two old enemies came face-to-face for the first time since the Carling Cup final back in 2007 when Chelsea came away with a 2-1 victory.

Wenger may have gained the upper hand in the opening weeks of the season with his side sitting top of the Premier League table, but he could only watch in horror last night.

The pair faced each other eight times during Mourinho’s first three seasons and two months in English football, including a Community Shield and League Cup final, and Mourinho won four and drew four. Make that five victories now.

Few could forget their many confrontations which included a Christmas Card being sent to the Arsenal manager which caused uproar, while the ‘Special One’ also accused Wenger of being a “voyeur”.

There were certainly old scores to be settled and from the starting line-ups it was clear both Wenger and Mourinho were determined to come out on top.

Wenger in particular has been renowned over the years for making wholesale changes in this competition and allowing his young players to be given valuable first-team action.

But with the club failing to win a trophy since 2005 and the presence of Mourinho in the opposing dugout, the Arsenal manager named a strong team, with only Ryo Miyaichi not having started a Premier League game.

The inclusion of club record signing Mesut Ozil and influential forward Olivier Giroud on the substitutes’ bench also gave a clear indication of Wenger’s intent.

Mourinho also threatened to make big changes in the lead-up to the game and was fuming over the scheduling of the game — just 48 hours after their dramatic victory over Man City. Maybe this was classic Mourinho mind games once again as he named seven Champions League winners in his so called second string team and they were far superior in every department.

With Olivier Giroud being named on the bench, all Arsenal eyes were on Nicklas Bendtner to see if he could get back among the goals but he failed to deliver once again and the argument will continue to run over why Wenger never brought in another striker during the summer.

Chelsea always created the better opportunities and the deadlock was finally broken after 25 minutes and it was a moment that Carl Jenkinson will want to forget in a hurry.

Chelsea broke quickly from a corner and when Aaron Ramsey collided with Michael Essien, the ball looped up into the air which caused all kinds of confusion for Arsenal defender Jenkinson.

Jenkinson and Wilshere got in each other’s way and Jenkinson made the crucial error in attempting to head the ball back to his keeper but made a complete hash of his clearance.

The ball bounced into the path of Azpilicueta who raced from his own penalty area to volley his effort past the onrushing Fabianski and into the corner of the net.

Azpilicueta almost turned from hero to villain on 29 minutes as he needlessly gave the ball away to Nacho Monreal who raced into the box and fired a shot which flew inches past the post.

Despite sitting top of the table, Arsenal were a shadow of the team which have made such an impressive start to the campaign and had to wait until the hour mark before they created another clear opportunity.

Santi Cazorla struck a weak shot which flew wide of the post and in fairness that summed up Arsenal’s goal threat on the evening.

The game was put beyond Arsenal when Mata doubled the lead for Chelsea in spectacular fashion on 67 minutes.

Mata reminded Mourinho of his ability when he picked up the ball on the edge of the ball and fired an unstoppable shot which sailed into the roof of the net,.

It could have been three on 72 minutes when Ramires took the ball past Thomas Vermaelen and cut the ball back for Samuel Eto’o who put his shot the wrong side of the post. But it was Chelsea and Mourinho who were left celebrating at the final whistle.

ARSENAL: Fabianski 6; Jenkinson 5, Koscielny 6, Vermaelen 6, Monreal 6; Ramsey 6 (Park 83mins 6), Wilshere 6; Ryo 5 (Ozil 64mins 6), Cazorla 6; Rosicky 6; Bendtner 5 (Giroud 68mins 6)

CHELSEA: Schwarzer 7; Azpilicueta 8, Cahill 7, Luiz 7, Bertrand 7; Essien 7, Mikel 7; De Bruyne 7 (Ramires 69, 7), Mata 8 (Kalas 7), Willian 7; Eto’o 7 (Ba 83, 7).

Referee: Phil Dowd. Attendance: 59,455.