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83 min I\u2019d love to know what Jorge Valdano thinks of this game. Perhaps the same as he thought of Liverpool v Chelsea<\/a> in 2005, just without the stick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 82 min Fernandez again goes flat to the near post and Fofana attacks it on the leap, extending a foot and guiding a shot wide.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 81 min \u2026then Palmer directs the free-kick into it, and Chelsea<\/a> do well to force a corner in the repechage that follows. Chalobah\u2019s shot heading wide but hitting Martinelli on its way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 80 min \u2026 and they\u2019re still arguing over the wall\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 79 min Now Chelsea<\/a> win a free-kick, this one just outside the D, fractionally left of centre. By the standards of what we\u2019ve seen so far tonight, this is a gilt-edged opportunity\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 77 min Chelsea concede a free-kick 35 yards out and Eze, who is, it appears, playing, is behind it, but then Rice pulls rank and knocks the ball wide, Trossard\u2019s cross is cleared, and Arsenal go again, Rice appearing on the left of the box and finding Zubimendi down the line. the cross is a beauty, picking out Gabriel on the burst at the far post, and he heads hard \u2026 this looks like the match \u2026 but it\u2019s directly into Cucurella\u2019s phizog! I\u2019m not sure how much he knew about the block, but he did adjust position well, so deserves the credit.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 75 min Chelsea send on Garnacho for Andrey Santos, and he goes to the left, with Palmer now in behind. Really, Garnacho is a big-space player and he\u2019s not getting that here, but he has so much, er, megalopsychia that, warranted or not, he\u2019s always a danger.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.35 EST<\/p>\n 73 min Santos trips Zubimendi off the ball, back garden-style, and the ref calls the captains together, but there\u2019s a disappointing lack of aggro.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 72 min Palmer slides through midfield, but Joao Pedro takes possession, unaware that Estevao is in space on the diagonal behind him, and is quickly blocked off. Arsenal<\/a> have been collectively poor tonight, but are so defensively well-drilled that they\u2019ve given up not a single clear-cut chance.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 70 min Fofana saves a corner but concedes a throw near the flag; again, Arsenal go backwards, but when Chelsea<\/a> look to construct something, Timber turns one way then t\u2019other, escaping Estevao, who hauls him back and is booked.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 69 min Now two changes for Arsenal<\/a>, Havertz for Gyokeres and Trossard for Madueke, two Arteta favourites sent on to try and confirm the win.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 68 min Chelsea set Gusto away down the right, he nicks it by Hincapie then tumbles over the defender\u2019s planted foot and is correctly cautioned for diving.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.28 EST<\/p>\n 68 min A rare Arsenal<\/a> attack, Hincapie crossing and Kepa claiming.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 67 min Caicedo lofts over the top, Gabriel puts a hand on Joao Pedro\u2019s shoulder and, knowing he\u2019s not getting the ball, goes down; the ref doesn\u2019t want to know.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 65 min Chelsea have upped it, Esetevao pulling wide then laying back to Fernandez, who also tries a curler, the ball disappearing over the bar once more.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 64 min But the delivery is poor and into the ground, the clearance reaching Cucurella, whose shot is like his barnet: curling, over the top, and generally suboptimal.<\/p>\n Marc Cucurella of Chelsea (right) has an unsuccessful pop at goal. Photograph: Tolga Akmen\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.34 EST<\/p>\n 63 min A decent pass between the lines, I think from Chalobah, picks out Gusto, who wins a corner off Hincapie. Fernandez comes over to take it, the box loaded.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 61 min Since Rosenior took over at Chelsea<\/a>, no side in Europe has more goal involvement from subs. I\u2019ve not watched all these games, but from what I have seen, it\u2019s been more a case of correcting errors than inspired changes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 60 min Gusto hurts himself so takes treatment, then Chelsea<\/a> make their change, Estevao and Palmer replacing Hato and Delap, which means a change to 4-2-3-1, Estevao on the left, Palrmer the right and Fernandez in behind.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 58 min \u201cThere\u2019s a flaw in Karl Tulnius\u2019s point about megalopsychia,\u201d reckons Colum Farrelly, \u201cas shown by the England cricket team which shows iron self-belief and exudes such confidence that others \u2026 just laugh at them, really. You needed to \u2026 demonstrate ability.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 57 min Estevao and Palmer are stripped. The longer this remains goalless, the more nervous Arsenal<\/a> \u2013 and the home crowd \u2013 will get.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 56 min Madueke skirts around the outside of Delap, who kicks him over and is booked.<\/p>\n Chelsea’s Liam Delap (left) trips Arsenal’s Noni Madueke and goes into the ref\u2019s book Photograph: Adrian Dennis\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.33 EST<\/p>\n 54 min \u201cContinuing the theme (and distracting from the poor football), a friend of mine was in the central nightclub The End in the 90s,\u201d begins Matthew Davis. \u201cHe ran into a guy with bleached blond hair and leather get up and said \u2018Are you trying to look like that **** Mr C? To which, to his eternal credit, he replied \u2018I am that **** Mr C\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, I\u2019m afraid I know too well what and where The End is, but Mr C is a legend of the game. I saw him quite recently at a party he organised in an office, replacing bogroll. He\u2019s refined, he\u2019s fine, he makes you feel fine and all that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min Delap ragdolls Hicapie, tossing him aside and escaping unpunished, so the Arsenal<\/a> man charges after someone, anyone, seeking revenge, eventually fouling Joao Pedro; Arteta is booked, I think for complaining but it might be for his little trousers.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 52 min The ball is clumped backwards and forwards; both Estevao and Palmer warm up like their introduction is imminent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 50 min For a second, it looks like Gyokeres is away, gambolling down the left, then Chalobah comes across and humps clear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 47 min Chelsea<\/a> win a corner, Fernandez swings it in and everyone, Kepa included, misses it, the ball bobbling behind. There\u2019s a quick VAR check \u2013 seriously, it\u2019s quick, I promise \u2013 to see if Saliba fouled Joao Pedro, but he did not.<\/p>\n Everyone misses the ball as it passes through the Arsenal area. Photograph: Paul Childs\/Action Images\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.16 EST<\/p>\n 46 min \u201cFor all their lack of inventiveness,\u201d says Henry, \u201cArsenal have scored more goals this season than both Liverpool and City, having played the same number of games in the same competitions, so it\u2019s a bit overblown (though I agree it often seems cautious).\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019ve scored fewer in the league than City, though, but I\u2019m talking about individuals able to override match circumstances, and attacking combinations that are too quick and precise to defend. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s controversial to say Arsenal are behind both teams in that aspect, but have a more solid platform behind them, which helps with attacking freedom.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 46 min We go again\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Back come our teams. It feels impossible for the second half not to be an improvement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Estevao and Palmer are on the pitch kicking about. I don\u2019t imagine Rosenior will leave it too long before introducing both.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAs that last half was basement-level stuff and not very elevating,\u201d returns Justin Kavanagh, \u201clet me regale you with my story of meeting the sanguish man in a lift in DC many moons ago. I was headed to a meeting, head down getting my papers in order, when in stepped two men. One of them had an unmistakable voice I couldn\u2019t quite place, but then I twigged it. \u2018That\u2019s the best Sean Connery impersonat\u2026\u2019 I blurted out foolishly, before stopping myself\u2026 because, of course, it was the suave Scot himself. Okay! Carry on\u2026pleashe continue\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n A mate of mine went to the kluhrb in New York and found himself at afterparty in an apartment with mody gold discs on its walls. \u201cYou must really love Moby,\u201d he said to his host. I imagine you can guess the rest.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time email: \u201cThe discussion of tachles reminds of another concept that has exemplified some of the best sides and managers in football,\u201d writes K\u00e1ri Tulinius. \u201cAristotle considered the most important virtue to be \u2018megalopsychia\u2019, which could be glossed as \u2018being great and knowing that you are\u2019. The best teams have so much iron self-belief, that they never think they\u2019re beaten, and exude such confidence that their opponents start doubting themselves. Anyway, I spent a winter beating my head against the knotty prose of Aristotelian ethics and in comparison to that this match is mind-numbing.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always found Hegel and Kant the hardest to unravel; by contrast, this match is relatively simple, two teams fearful of losing in their desperation to win. Arsenal<\/a> do try to affect Aristotelian virtue, but they don\u2019t really believe it yet.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Half-time reading:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>HALF-TIME: Arsenal (3) 0-0 (2) Chelsea<\/p>\n Chelsea have been the better side, but neither has been anything approximating to good.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45+1 min I didn\u2019t see Arsenal<\/a> at the weekend, but the one before, against United, their counter-pressing, especially in the first 20 minutes, was excellent. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re more nervous tonight, given the lead they hold, but they\u2019re sitting off in a way they don\u2019t usually. I\u2019d not be surprised if Arteta shares with them some sentiments and feelings at half-time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min Arsenal go again with another ball over the top, Eze leaping with foot extended but unable to get a touch. We\u2019ll have one additional minute.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 45 min This is up there, or down there, with the worst halves I\u2019ve seen this season \u2013 and on a weekly basis, I watched Ruben Amorim\u2019s Man United.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 43 min Fofana wins it high, feeds infield to Fernandez, who opens his body to try a curler \u2026 and Kepa fists clear.<\/p>\n Arsenal keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga dives to make the save. Photograph: Tolga Akmen\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.50 EST<\/p>\n 41 min On which point, Arteta is often criticised for his safety-first tactics, but the problem as much as anything is a lack of quality \u2013 Saka is his only attacker of elite level, and really you\u2019d want him to be the third-best in your forward-line, not the best by far. Anyhow, Chelsea<\/a> win a corner, easily cleared.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 38 min It\u2019s amazing how much money has been spent on this Chelsea<\/a> squad, for it to be so lacking in forward areas. They\u2019ve some good players, obviously, but not enough of undefendable brilliance \u2013 likewise Arsenal. Compare them to Liverpool and the Manchester clubs who, for all their ills, and there are many, are much more enterprising and inventive in attack.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 36 min \u201cTough watch this,\u201d reckons Stephen Carr. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if Arteta has had them watching classic Mourinho compilation DVDs all week.\u201d<\/p>\n I seem to recall a League Cup semi second leg, at Old Trafford in 2005, won by Chelsea<\/a> following some choreographed pushing from a corner\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 34 min Rice wins a throw deep inside the Chelsea<\/a> half \u2026 and it goes backwards. Arsenal seem nervous, but as I type, a long pass over the top from Gabriel, swatted beautifully to meet the out-to-in run of Martinelli, who gets away from Gusto as he enters the box, then spins when caught up to swivel into a shot \u2026 which the defender does well to block. But that was better from Arsenal and almost immediately afterwards, Gyokeres bursts into the box from the left, then shoots into the nearest available pair of shins. Suddenly, he\u2019s bossing it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 32 min We see a graphic advising us Gyokeres has had one touch so far. He perhaps needs to decide what he\u2019s going to do: come deep to get on the ball, or constantly threaten in behind, because at the moment he doesn\u2019t seem to be doing either.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.33 EST<\/p>\n 30 min Delap down the line for Gusto, whose lowish cross is cleared. Half an hour gone, and we\u2019ve seen one serious save \u2013 Sanchez\u2019s from Hincapie \u2013 and even that wasn\u2019t especially difficult.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 29 min I guess, on the other had, Arsenal<\/a> have a good defence fortified by Rice and Zubimendi in front, so don\u2019t mind a bit of back-foot play, even if it\u2019s not how Arteta wants them to go about things.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 28 min There\u2019s not much in this so far but Arsenal have been tepid with Chelsea<\/a> looking marginally likelier.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 27 min Fernandez delivers flat, the ball\u2019s headed back to him so he goes again, and this time it\u2019s headed away to Chalobah, who butchers a shot somewhere towards Blackstock Road.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 26 min Rice gives it away to Santos, looking to play out from the back, but Santos, who intercepts, can\u2019t find a perceptive pass, so Chelsea<\/a> slow it down, then Delap\u2019s cross is deflected behind and Fernandez goes over to take the corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 23 min Joao Pedro is doing well pining Saliba, most recently beating him to a ball when second-favourite and winning a free-kick. He\u2019s maturing into a fine all-round centre-forward \u2013 he already looks a way better player than he did last season, putting himself about with greater aggression, conviction and intent.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 21 min Arsenal have appeared into the game, Kepa finding Martinelli with a long pass, but his cut-back misses everyone.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.45 EST<\/p>\n 20 min \u201cI can\u2019t help with the concept of \u2018tachlis\u2019,\u201d says Andy Gordon, \u201cbut \u2018shanguish\u2019 is what Sean Connery has at lunchtime.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 20 min \u2026and this time it\u2019s cleared properly at the first attempt, so Arsenal<\/a> build again.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 18 min This time, the corner half-cleared then, out of naewhere, Hincapie flings himself into a shot from 25, Sanchez flying to high right to parry but without getting the ball around the post \u2026 and Gabriel is lurking! But the ball comes to o quickly, he can\u2019t rearrange his feet, and the chance evaporates \u2026 but shortly afterwards, Arsenal<\/a> win a free-kick which Rice will swerve in\u2026<\/p>\n A flying Robert S\u00e1nchez ensures that the scores stay level. Photograph: Kieran McManus\/ShutterstockShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.23 EST<\/p>\n 17 min Still, though, Madueke\u2019s delivery is decent and Hincapie is up, his header hitting Fofana\u2019s arm, raised for leverage as he jumps, and going behind for another corner.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 16 min For the first time, Arsenal<\/a> set Madueke at Cucurella, who looks beaten but bites back to concede a corner. As Enzo Maresca did, Rosenior sends three players forward, to limit bodies in the box.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 15 min Arsenal have barely had a touch in the Chelsea<\/a> half and as soon as they get Martinelli on the ball, Caicedo crunches in to a challenge, then the flag goes up for offside.<\/p>\n