Match Report: Chelsea reign supreme in fiery London derby

The sub-plot to fixtures involving Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal now, rather ridiculously, manifests around the idea that two grown men that clearly have no respect for one and other must shake hands before their two sides go to battle. Thankfully for those that cared both shook hands, although without really acknowledging each other’s existence, and what really mattered became centre stage.

However, even before both managers took their positions on the sidelines it's worth reeling off  all the other sub-plots linked to this London derby. John Terry, who had been left out of the Chelsea side in the Champions League midweek, found himself on the bench for the first time in the Premier League under Mourinho; Petr Cech also returned to Stamford Bridge for the first time since leaving over the summer; Eden Hazard arrived looking to avoid equaling his longest Chelsea drought and Cesc Fabregas was also squaring up against his former employers.

Mourinho’s decision to start Kurt Zouma over captain Terry was a surprise, but one made as the Chelsea boss looked to set his back four higher up the pitch. Perhaps even stranger was that in Terry’s absence it was Branislav Ivanovic, who could have quite easily been dropped, that took the armband for the afternoon.

Unsurprisingly, Arsenal’s tactics to release Walcott into the glaring space behind the Chelsea backline were revealed almost instantly, although they brought little reward. Walcott, who started over Olivier Giroud, was responsible for all three offsides during the course of the match.

Chelsea’s front line looked to have benefitted from their midweek win although the killer instinct that helped them win the league last season was still missing. Neither side had fully seized control of proceedings during the first half until fortunes swung completely in the home sides favour when Gabriel was shown a straight red card by Mike Dean minutes before the interval.

Diego Costa was more than fortunate not to have seen red himself for various incidents, but it was the Arsenal defender that was shown his marching orders after falling right into Costa’s games. Gabriel, who has impressed in Per Mertesacker’s absence, flicked his leg out right under the nose of Dean leaving him no choice but to reach for his red card.

The Premier League champions would wait just seven minutes after the break before taking the lead, courtesy of a free Zouma header at the back post. Question marks will be asked over Arsenal's organisation, but it's worth taking a moment just to admire the wicked delivery from the boot of Cesc Fabregas's set-piece.

Alexis Sanchez has now had a league high 31 shots on goal without scoring and the Chilean had a great chance to level the match, but failed to take advantage of a lapse in communication between Gary Cahill and Zouma on the hour.

It would get much worse for the away side when Santi Carzola was shown his second yellow card of the match for a late foul on Fabregas with 10 minutes remaining, and Chelsea made things a formality when Hazard’s shot was deflected past a helpless Petr Cech via Calum Chambers’ back. 

Unfortunately, for those that still care, there was no handshake between the two managers at the end of the game, but it was normal service resumed for Chelsea and Jose Mourinho. This could be the start of their title defence, whereas Arsenal's credibility has taken another hit in a week where Wenger would have wanted to avoid being asked questions about his transfer policy.

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