Not a good day at the office as a disciplined Chelsea managed to see off an uninspired Arsenal and extend their lead at the top of the table. Arsenal’s weakness from set pieces was exposed again in a disappointing performance.

Vito Mannone – 5 – couldn’t do anything about either of the goals today yet conceded two goals in a poor team performance.

Carl Jenkinson – 7 – one of Arsenal’s best players today. Continued his solid start to the season and didn’t put a foot wrong today.

Laurent Koscielny – 5 – not his day at all. Couldn’t continue his form from last week and left fans questioning why Mertesacker was benched. A disappointing performance from one of my favourite Arsenal players.

Thomas Vermaelen – 5 – below average performance from the captain. Didn’t look himself today and conceded both free kicks which led to the Chelsea goals.

Kieran Gibbs – 7 – worked his socks off today and hardly put a foot wrong. Good going forward but still needs to improve on his final ball.

Abou Diaby – n/a – got subbed off early on after picking up a thigh strain. He looked bright when he was on and we looked a bit lost without him. Wenger has since confirmed he will be out for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Mikel Arteta – 7.5 – one of the 3 Arsenal players who looked like they wanted to win today. Made some good interceptions and was involved in some good link up play.

Santi Cazorla – 6 – good but unfortunately only in short spells. Faded throughout and didn’t control the game like he has done so well this season. This could be due to the fact that Chelsea marked him well with Ramires and Mikel.

Aaron Ramsey – 6 – bright in the first half and created some good opportunities. However, he faded in the second half and was subbed off halfway through.

Gervinho – 6.5 – great movement and finish for the goal however would have been lower if he hadn’t had scored. Whenever he got on the ball today he never looked up to see where the best pass was. Notably in the second half when we had 3 men over. He needs to improve on this instead of just running into the opposition.

Lukas Podolski – 6 – a quiet performance from the German international. Had a few good chances and was unlucky not to score when his header was saved by Cech. Felt he should have stayed on instead of Gervinho but, oh well.

SUBS:

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6 – had some good moments but not the enigmatic performance we have come to expect from the starlet. Probably should have started as he found some good space in the first half.

Theo Walcott – 4 – wasn’t involved today. Came on for Ramsey and didn’t offer anything. His decision making again frustrating but didn’t have enough time or service to make an impact.

Olivier Giroud – 5 – again he will be judged for “that miss” in the dying moments of the match. Good movement and good play to make the space but couldn’t finish it off. However, he needs to start matches. You can’t expect him to score that one chance in every 25 minute cameo. Give him time, he’ll come good.

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