Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: five talking points from the Emirates | Nick Ames

Mikel Arteta can welcome Mesut Özil’s revival but will look to improve his side’s game management while Frank Lampard deserves praise for an astute substitution in the first half

When the dust settles, Mikel Arteta will feel a measure of satisfaction that so much of his message is getting through. Arsenal ran, harried, moved the ball on quickly, posed a genuine threat and did not really look like buckling under pressure until Bernd Leno’s howler changed the complexion. That felt harsh but what happened next was a reminder that simple game management is one of the first things Arteta’s Arsenal need to master. Sometimes you have to know when to take a point but, from their own attack, Matteo Guendouzi lost a crucial challenge to N’Golo Kanté and set in motion a movie everyone has seen before. Arsenal were shockingly open as Willian and Tammy Abraham sliced through them , a situation not helped by their centre-halves backing off criminally, and resembled a team that had rushed headlong to chase the game. There was no need for that and Arteta needs to coax a degree of overdue savviness from his side.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/dec/29/arsenal-chelsea-five-talking-points

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