Referee steals the show as Chelsea put half-a-dozen past Arsenal

How often it has happened in the world of football that one player gets punished for the offence made by his teammate? May be never. But spectators at Stamford Bridge and many others who have kept an eye on the match between Arsenal and Chelsea might   consider themselves lucky to have witnessed such a hilarious incident. It happened in the 17^th minute of the match. Chelsea was already leading 2-0 thanks to goals from Samuel Eto’O in the 4^th minute, shortly after which he left pitch due to injury, and Andre Schurrle in the 7^th minute. Then came the moment of the match in the 17^th minute. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlaine in order to prevent his team going down by three goals handled a shot from one of the Chelsea players intentionally with goalie Schezny already beaten. Referee Andre Mariner made didn’t hesitate to give the penalty and quite rightly showed the red card. But instead of Chamberlaine, it was Gibbs who was given the marching orders. Every player on the pitch made constant arguments but much to the surprise of each and every one present the decision was never altered. Even the linesman did not take any initiative to rectify the referee’s mistake. Amidst all such controversies Eden Hazard made no mistake in converting the spot kick as Chelsea got their 3^rd in the match. Oscar added one more before the half time as Arsenal was staring at the worst defeat of the season.

In the second half Arsenal needed something special from In order to make any sort of come back into the match but there was no one could provide any such spirited performance. They were down on moral and Chelsea took the opportunity to heighten the level of humiliation as Oscar and Mohammad Salah added two more goals to take the score to 6-0.

It turned out to be a nightmare for Arsene Wenger to watch his team being hammered away on his 1000^th match as Arsenal manager. His expression after the final whistle said it all. With such a thumping Arsenal’s title hopes are slowly fading away for one more time. On the other hand Chelsea with such a moral-boosting win is back in the title hunt after last week shocking defeat at Villa Park. It looks like that the title race is going to a three-headed affair after Arsenal’s drubbing at Stamford Bridge.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.