Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry
 |
Background
While they never considered each other primary rivals, as two of the top clubs in London there has always been strong needle between the fans dating back to the 1930s. Matches between them would often attract large attendances. The Arsenal and Chelsea rivalry has been more recently considered an important derby, after Chelsea's rise to the top class of the Premier League in 2000s, when the two started to compete constantly for the English championship. According to an internet survey of fans in December 2003, the Arsenal fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Chelsea as their third rival, after Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.[1] Those Chelsea fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Arsenal as their main rival, however Tottenham and Fulham are their more traditional rivals.[1] In a 2009 survey by the Football Fans Census, Arsenal fans named Chelsea as the club they disliked the most, ahead of their traditional rivals Tottenham. Chelsea fans named Arsenal as their second most-disliked club, behind Liverpool.[2]History
The first league meeting between the two teams took place on November 9, 1907 at Stamford Bridge. This was the first Football League First Division game played between two London clubs and drew a then First Division record crowd of 65,000. A match between the clubs at Stamford Bridge in 1935 drew a crowd of 82,905, the second highest recorded attendance for an English league match. They met in two close contested FA Cup semi-finals in the 1950s, with Arsenal winning both times. In the 1960s Chelsea dominated the tie with 14 wins, two draws and just 2 losses during the decade.[3]More recently the clubs have contested two major finals, the 2002 FA Cup Final, which Arsenal won 2–0, and the 2007 Football League Cup Final, which Chelsea won 2–1. The two teams have also met in the UEFA Champions League in the quarter-finals in 2003–04 drawing 1–1 at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea winning 2–1 at Highbury to go through to the semi-finals.
In 2006 the transfer of Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea further stoked the rivalry, as Cole had been caught meeting Chelsea officials months before.[4]
The 2007 Carling Cup final was one of the most noted incidents. The game was marred by a fracas involving Frank Lampard, Cesc Fàbregas and others that resulted in yellow cards for the two and three other players sent off, the supposed wrongful dismissal of Emmanuel Adebayor and incidents of Chelsea fans throwing celery at Arsenal players. This led the media to dub it the "Snarling Cup final".
On December 27, 2010, Chelsea came into the Emirates having beaten Arsenal 5 times in a row by a goal differencial of 13–2. Arsenal were victorious upon the final whistle however by a score of 3–1.
On 29 October 2011, another thrilling and fantastic game was played at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal won 5–3 with Robin Van Persie scoring a hat-trick and André Santos and Theo Walcott scoring one goal each. Frank Lampard, John Terry and Juan Mata scored the goals for Chelsea[5]
Overall, Arsenal have won the more games in history, having won 70 times to Chelsea's 54, with 52 draws (as of 21 April 2012).[6] Arsenal's record win was a 5–1 victory in a First Division match at Stamford Bridge on November 29, 1930. Chelsea's record win was a 5–0 victory at Highbury in the League Cup on November 11, 1998.
Former Chelsea Striker Didier Drogba holds the mark for the most derby goals with 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment