It was a frenetic match as the Blues locked horns with Arsene Wenger’s side at Wembley Stadium for the Charity (Community) Shield ahead of the kick-off of the new season.
The Blues took the lead through Victor Moses after some slack defending from Arsenal but they were back on level terms with just 8 minutes remaining in the regulation time.
In the end, the match ended 1-1 but the Gunners prevailed over the League Champions 4-1 on Penalties to set the tone for a promising season.
From the London clash between Arsenal and Chelsea, we evaluate some features and match statistics as regards to the game at Wembley Stadium.
SHOTS ON TARGET
10(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 6
The Gunners were as the statistics clearly indicate with 4 shots (on target) more than Chelsea.
Conte side managed 6 shots on goal (target) as compared to Arsenal’s 10 shots in the game as the trio of Danny Welbeck, new signing Alexandre Lacazette and forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain correlated well in transition.
SHOTS OFF TARGET
6(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 1
The Blues were poor from the attacking session as the Gunners showed more fire power and attacking incision in front of goal.
The Gunners accumulated 6 shots off target as compared to Chelsea lone strike off target as the Gunners duly equalized to bring themselves deservedly back into the game.
POSSESSION
55(ARSENAL) (ARSENAL) 45
The possession says it all as Arsenal was dominant in the course of the 90 minutes.
This saw them accumulate 55% of the possession while Chelsea managed 45% of the ball possession despite the midfield presence of Cesc Fabregas and PFA Premier League player of the year in N’golo Kante.
CORNERS
5(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 4
The match was an end to end contest as it produced 9 corner-kicks in total.
The Gunners had 5 corner-kicks as compared to Chelsea’s 4 corner-kicks in the game. This was largely as a result of Arsenal’s dominance in the fixture.
OFFSIDES
1(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 4
Arsenal was caught in the offside position on one (1) occasion while the Blues were guilty of 4 offside calls in the match.
FOULS
8(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 12
The game produced a total of 20 fouls in the course of the 90 minutes. This was due to some measure of strife and competition that exists among these two top sides.
Chelsea committed 12 fouls due to their lack of possession in the match as they attempt to get the ball off the feet of Arsenal players. The Gunners recorded 8 tackles (fouls) as their dominance was evident for all to see.
YELLOW CARD
1(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 4
The Gunners were soft in tackles, unlike Chelsea that committed 4 more fouls than their opposing in the game. This resulted in one booking for Arsenal and 4 yellow cards for Chelsea in the match.
Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin was booked in the 15th minute while Chelsea trio of Cesar Azpilicueta, Marcos Alonso and Willian Borges were booked in the 13th, 35th and 37th minute respectively.
GOAL-KICK
3(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 4
Arsenal was terrific in transition and so they generated more firepower and pressure (goal-kick) towards the Chelsea goal.
This saw Chelsea conceding 14 goal-kicks as a result of Arsenal’s attacking potency. The Blues just exerted little pressure as Arsenal were confined to only three(3) goal-kick in the entire 90-minute contest.
TREATMENTS
2(ARSENAL) (CHELSEA) 6
The game saw about 8 treatments issues to deal with in the course of the tie. Arsenal had 2 treatments while Chelsea had 6 treatments.
This was as a result of persistent challenges that took place among both sides in the Community Shield.