Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard scored as Chelsea exploited the dismissals of Gabriel and Santi Cazorla to beat Arsenal 2-0 on Saturday and revive their English Premier League title defence.
Gabriel was sent off late in the first half after a tussle with the provocative Diego Costa and Zouma, playing in place of Chelsea captain John Terry, put the hosts ahead in the 53rd minute.
SECOND YELLOW
Photo: EPA
Cazorla was shown a second yellow card for sliding in on Cesc Fabregas and Hazard made the game safe a minute from time with a shot that beat former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech via a sizeable deflection off Calum Chambers.
It was for Chelsea a first home league win of the campaign and, arriving on the back of Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UEFA Champions League, fired hope that Jose Mourinho’s side might yet salvage something, despite making their worst start to a season in 29 years.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had overcome Mourinho for the first time in last month’s Community Shield, but here found himself in the familiar position of having been eclipsed by his Portuguese nemesis.
Photo: AFP
SETBACK
His side have not beaten Chelsea in the league since October 2011, and following the midweek defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in which Olivier Giroud was sent off, this was another partly self-inflicted setback.
As ever in this fixture, the first tremors of the contest were felt before kick-off, with Terry’s inclusion on the substitutes’ bench followed by a keenly anticipated handshake between Wenger and Mourinho.
Wenger had swerved a chance to shake his Chelsea counterpart’s hand after Arsenal’s 1-0 win in the Community Shield, but on this occasion Mourinho made himself impossible to avoid by lingering beside the tunnel.
Eyes averted, the pair performed the most perfunctory of handshakes before taking their seats.
Mourinho said Terry’s omission was “tactical” and it seemed to reflect concern over the pace of Theo Walcott, who got in behind Chelsea’s defence early on and rounded goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, only to run the ball out.
The England forward also squandered an opportunity created by Mesut Ozil’s pass by shooting straight at Begovic, but as the first half wore on, so Chelsea’s grip on it tightened.
Back at a ground he had called home for 11 years, Cech was by far the busier goalkeeper, smothering an attempt from Pedro Rodriguez, brilliantly picked out by Fabregas, and later parrying the Spain forward’s long-range drive.
PENALTY APPEAL
Hazard had a strong penalty appeal turned down after being eased off the pitch by Gabriel, which drew a rueful smile from Mourinho.
Zouma and Pedro also shot narrowly off target before the pressure finally told with the dismissal of Gabriel.
Costa, characteristically, was the catalyst, wildly lashing out at Laurent Koscielny inside the Arsenal box and then clashing with Gabriel, which saw both players booked.
But Costa continued to goad Gabriel as the players walked down the pitch and when the defender reacted with a sly kick, referee Mike Dean brandished the red card.
Arsenal lost Francis Coquelin at half-time, the midfielder being replaced by Chambers after hurting his knee during the first half, and eight minutes into the second half they lost parity in the match as well.
HEADER
Fabregas floated a left-of-centre free-kick towards the far post and Zouma stole behind Koscielny and Nacho Monreal to plant a header past Cech for his first Premier League goal.
Moments later Cech parried a powerful strike from Hazard, who also shot narrowly wide after a driving run into the box.
The disappointing Alexis Sanchez spurned a presentable chance at the other end, scuffing a volley into the ground and over the bar, while Walcott curled wide.
But Arsenal’s chances vanished 12 minutes from time when Cazorla caught Fabregas on the ankle and joined Gabriel in the changing room, with Hazard’s deflected strike securing the points.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite