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On Sunday, in the central match of the English Premier League, two London teams clashed - defending champion Chelsea and ambitious Arsenal. The intense and nerve-wracking match ended in a draw, which should be more pleasing to Arsenal fans - 1-1.
1 - 1
78' [0 - 1] Mathieu Flamini
84' [1 - 1] Michael Essien
The principled battle at Stamford Bridge started quite calmly - neither team rushed to attack with full force and the first few minutes were spent observing. However, although the game was balanced, the hosts attacked more dangerously - initially, Jens Lehmann caught a long-range shot from Andriy Shevchenko, and then the crossbar saved the German goalkeeper from Frank Lampard's shot from 15 meters.
Attention was also paid to the scandalous transfer of left-back Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea this summer, who often faced booing and displeasure from rival fans when receiving the ball. In the 24th minute, emotions on the field and in the stands were stirred up by a rough English tackle on Alexander Hleb, for which the dissatisfied player received a yellow card.
There were no more particularly dangerous situations around either goal, and both teams went into the break with the score still 0-0.
At the start of the second half, the game unfolded similarly, but despite Cesc Fabregas' dangerous long-range shot, the hosts began to assert their dominance.
In the 63rd minute, an incident occurred when Didier Drogba fell in the penalty area after a tussle with Phillippe Senderos, appealing unsuccessfully for a penalty. Not receiving a favorable decision, the Chelsea forward did not leave the penalty area immediately, prompting Arsenal goalkeeper Lehmann to push him from behind. Leaders from the Ivory Coast national team responded with a powerful shot, scoring against the German. After a few minutes of disputes, reconciliations, and consultations with assistant referees, both players were shown yellow cards by referee Alan Wiley.
The hosts' attacks were energized in the 67th minute, with Dutch winger Arjen Robben making his appearance. Shortly after, Robben had a great opportunity to score, but failed to convert a pass from Senderos and Drogba into a goal.
Chelsea continued to look for openings in the opponent's defense, but in the 78th minute, they received a blow - A. Hleb saw M. Flamini inside the box, who accurately shot from 13 meters to beat Hilario and put the visitors ahead.
However, the champions did not falter and immediately launched a successful final assault. After two missed chances by Drogba, Michael Essien received a pass from Lampard and unleashed an unstoppable shot from nearly 30 meters into the top corner, sending the home fans into ecstasy.
In the 86th minute, another attempt finally succeeded when Hleb scored from 12 meters after a cross by Freddie Ljungberg.
Despite this, Chelsea's players clearly did not settle for a draw - they continued to push forward with all their might. With the referee adding 4 minutes of stoppage time, Chelsea earned a corner and Essien could only blame himself for not scoring - with only the goalkeeper to beat, the African midfielder struck the ball strongly, but it hit the crossbar.
In the 94th minute, another clear chance was squandered by Frank Lampard, as Lehmann did not save a low shot from afar, but the ball bounced off the Chelsea guard and, having confused the German, the talented player hit the woodwork.
Immediately after that, the final whistle blew and with a sardonic smile from Jose Mourinho, they missed the chance to close in on the now-leading Manchester United club with 8 points in the league.
League Table:
Top Scorers:
1. Nwankwo Kanu ("Portsmouth") 9 goals
2. Didier Drogba ("Chelsea") 8 goals
3. Kevin Doyle ("Reading") 8 goals
4. Wayne Rooney ("Man Utd") 8 goals
5. Louis Saha ("Man Utd") 8 goals
