It was a blue day for Arsenal as they fell to Chelsea at the Emirates. A 2-0 win with goals from Cesar Azpilicueta and Juan Mata assured the sellout crowd of Chelsea's progression to the quarterfinals. Wenger has yet to beat Mourinho in nine matches.
The much anticipated match resulted in a Chelsea win. Mourinho made 10 changes to his City side while Arsene Wenger made 6. Both managers had still fielded two very strong sides, which showed the quality of Chelsea's squad depth and the lack of depth at Arsenal. Nonetheless, the Emirates was sold out for Jose Mourinho's first match there since 2007. 9,000 Chelsea fans made the commute from West London to North London and the away support was impeccable as they rarely stopped singing.
The match started off rather dull as neither team could make anything of their possession. It took 25 minutes until the first chance arrived, and it went Chelsea's way. An Arsenal corner was quickly cleared, and Chelsea broke on the counter. Samuel Eto'o found Michael Essien in space, but he was tackled immediately by an Arsenal player. The ball shot up into the air, and Karl Jenkinson's header back to Fabianksi was intercepted by Cesar Azpilicueta, who made a run from his own box. The Spanish defender got a vital touch on the ball, and it bounced off the post and in. That strike was his first ever for Chelsea, and it was an incredible one as he went from one goal line to another.
Arsenal began to respond with a few spells of possession, but got their first real chance after Azpilicueta's mistake led to Nacho Monreal releasing a fierce effort towards goal, but it was just wide of Mark Schwarzer's back post. Arsenal and Chelsea then went back and forth, but neither could trouble one another. Those two chances were the best of the half as it ended Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea.
The second half started, and Arsenal were on the front foot. Aaron Ramsey's deflected effort nearly trickled past Schwarzer, Cazorla's effort went wide, and Jack Wilshere fired over the bar as well. A series of corners and crosses resulted as the pressure kept building up, but a counter attack nearly lead to a second as Samuel Eto'o looked to bend it around Koscielny, but it was wide of Fabianski's goal. A few minutes later, Chelsea had a second (66 minutes). Eto'o's flick on was headed away by Jack Wilshere, but only as far as Juan Mata. The little Spaniard took a touch with his weaker foot and hit a stunning effort with his right giving Fabianski no chance. Chelsea had doubled their lead and Chelsea fans exploded as the Arsenal fans went quiet.
Mesut Oezil and Olivier Giroud came on for Arsenal, but to no avail. The Frenchman had a decent chance, but it was a tight angle, and Schwarzer saved comfortably. Then, another Chelsea counter attack troubled Arsenal as Ramires danced into the box and delicately placed it around Fabianski, only to see Laurent Koscielny clear it right before it crossed the line. Chelsea would hold on for the ensuing 15 minutes as Arsenal failed to threaten Schwarzer. The elusive third goal nearly came through Ramires late on as a long-range effort from his rattled the bar.
And that's how it finished, Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea. Delight for Jose Mourinho's men as Arsene Wenger saw his side lose back-to-back home games.
