Good… (*checks watch*)… good afternoon and welcome to our live minute-by-minute coverage of the lunchtime Premier League action.
And it’s a gem: Chelsea v Arsenal, Mourinho v Wenger, derby day.
Kick-off is at 12.45pm — not long now!
As always we’d love to hear from you over the course of the afternoon. Tweet us @The42_ie, find us on Facebook, send your emails to niall@the42.ie, or leave a comment below.
The big news from Stamford Bridge is that John Terry does not start for Chelsea. Wowzers!
EBJT is on the bench with Gary Cahill and Kurt Zouma in the centre of defence.
Chelsea: Begovic, Ivanovic, Zouma, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Matic, Fabregas, Pedro, Oscar, Hazard, Costa.
Here’s the Arsenal team. Giroud’s on the bench so all eyes will, once again, be on Theo Walcott.
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcott.
Terry’s omission was a “tactical, technical” decision according to Mourinho. Whatever that means…
Speaking on BT a couple of minutes ago, Arsene Wenger brushed aside a question on whether or not he’s willing to shake Jose Mourinho’s hand.
Safe to say that’s a no, I think.
It’s a statistic that you’ve surely heard time and time again this week but it’s worth reiterating one last time before kick-off: Arsene Wenger has never beaten Jose Mourinho in the Premier League.
Will today be the day?
BREAKING: They shook hands!
KICK OFF: We’re underway at the Bridge.
Early corner for Arsenal and Cazorla whips it in but Ramsey’s shot is blocked away.
Lively start from Theo Walcott. He races onto a long ball but Begovic does well to close the distance and force him wide and eventually, Walcott runs out of room.
That pace will be a concern for Zouma and Cahill though.
Space opens up for Fabregas in front of the Arsenal back four and he fizzes in a shot, but Cech is always behind it and deals with it comfortably.
Quiet enough start to this one… just in case you thought I’d fallen asleep or something.
Sanchez cuts back in off the wing but he doesn’t catch his shot cleanly and the ball dribbles harmlessly wide.
Theo Walcott is playing on the shoulder of the last Chelsea defender and he has already been caught offside a couple of times. Frustrating, yes, but he only needs to time it right once and he’ll be laughing.
Better by Chelsea as Oscar and Hazard try to thread passes around that resilient Arsenal defence. The Gunners deal with it.
“Both managers will be pleased with what they’ve seen,” says Michael Owen. Still cagey enough.
Costa is getting the ball to his feet now and running at the Arsenal defence. He tries to tee up Fabregas on the edge of the box but he just underhits it and Monreal, not for the first time, is able to slide in and clear the danger.
There’s a break in play here to allow treatment for Coquelin. He looked to land awkwardly and jar his knee but presumably he’ll be ok to continue in a couple of minutes.
And as Coquelin gets treatment, everyone on Twitter makes the same joke:
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Another snapshot by Costa from the edge of the box but again, it’s comfortable for Cech.
A commentary gem from Ian Darke there on ESPN. “Cesar Azpilicueta, known as Dave to his team-mates or so we’re told.”
I’ll say what we’re all thinking… I hope the rugby is better than this.
Another half-chance as Walcott tries to open his body up and bend it around Begovic into the far corner. It’s too close to the keeper though who doesn’t need to make much of an adjustment to save.
First booking of the afternoon as Pedro spins away from Santi Cazorla but then has his heels nipped by the Arsenal man on the half-way line.
Best chance of the game so far! Most of Chelsea’s good moves have come through Fabregas and it’s him again. He threads a great through ball to split the Arsenal defence and Pedro is running on. He can’t quite control the pass though and Cech smothers it.
Should have done better.
Oooooh… Gabriel tries to shepherd the ball out of play with Hazard in close attention and the two tumble to ground. It doesn’t look like a penalty to me but Michael Owen and Glenn Hoddle both think Mike Dean might have pointed to the spot.
Well, well, well.
Howard Webb has given his take now and after watching the replay, he says penalty. The ball wasn’t within playing distance for Gabriel and he used his weight to take Hazard out of the game.
Smashing tackle by Kurt Zouma who slides in and robs Theo Walcott just as it looked like he might skip free of the Arsenal defence.
That’s as good as it has been for Arsenal in the last few minutes, really.
Frantic stuff as Chelsea break down an Arsenal attack and then break through Azpilicueta and Hazard. Pedro dings one from the edge of the box but Cech parries it away.
Diego Costa is skating on thin ice here. He has a bit of wrestling match with Koscielny and catches him in the face, and then the two go belly to belly for a bit of afters.
Gabriel gets involved then, and both himself and Costa are booked. The Arsenal man is a little unlucky there really.
RED CARD! Gabriel is sent off!
You know the old saying: if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned. And Diego Costa is petrol poured on a bonfire.
Himself and Gabriel are still marking each other as play is about to resume but then the Brazilian defender looks to have a little flick at Costa with his studs. Mike Dean shows him the line.
I can’t wait to see the replay of this one.
HALF TIME: Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal
Wait until you see the “kick” that got Gabriel sent off! I’ve put on my socks with more menace on occasion. Madness.
SECOND HALF: Back underway at the Bridge. Can Chelsea make their man advantage count?
Free for Arsenal on the edge of the Chelsea box, and Ivanovic goes into Mike Dean’s book. It’s not his first foul by any means.
Sanchez’s effort clips the wall and it goes behind for a corner. Costa heads it clear from the near post.
That’s a little bit wasteful from Arsenal.
Now this I’d like to see…
GOAL! Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal (Zouma 53′)
Chelsea lead — and it’s Kurt Zouma’s first Premier League goal! Fabregas flights a wonderful free kick, Zouma is allowed to run free around the back, Cech stays rooted to his line, and the young defender barely needs to give it a nod to score.
It looks like Wenger will be waiting for his first win over Mourinho.
Gone a little bit flat again since the goal. Arsenal will have to bide their time before committing forward.
OOOOOHHHH what a chance for Arsenal! It’s only a half-chance, in fairness, but when you’re playing with 10 men at Stamford Bridge you need to learn to live off scraps.
Cahill and Zouma both misjudge the flight of a bouncing ball, Cazorla nips in behind them, but he can’t trouble Begovic with his shot. Disappointing.
That wasn’t even a half-chance for Walcott — a quarter-chance maybe, at best. He tries to curl the ball into the top corner (ambitious) but he doesn’t get enough bend on his shot.
CHANCE! A flash of genius from Hazard and it might very nearly have been 2-0. He collects the ball with his back to goal, swivels, and sets off on a darting run. Cech is unsighted as his shot came through a defender’s legs, but fortunately for the keeper, it’s just wide of the far post.
Pedro thinks he’s playing for the Dubs! Arsenal lose the ball coming out from the back but Pedro leans back and skies his shot high over Cech’s crossbar. Must do better.
Chelsea sub: First change as Ramires comes on to replace Oscar.
Chelsea shout for a peno as Costa and Bellerin tangle in the box — Mike Dean is not interested though.
Arsenal double sub: Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud on, Sanchez and Ozil off.
RED CARD! Santi Cazorla sent off!
Arsenal are down to nine men and really, even a draw seems like it would be a miraculous result at this stage.
Cazorla is already on a yellow but slides in on Fabregas, and the Chelsea man gets a toe on the ball and it’s enough to make sure of a free and a second yellow for his compatriot.
He really didn’t need to dive in there, Cazorla.
Chelsea sub: Diego Costa is lucky to still be on the pitch but his afternoon is over now. He’s replaced by Loic Remy for the last eight minutes.
If you’re looking for the nod to switch over to the rugby, now’s your moment. Four minutes left here and Chelsea are playing keep-ball.
Hazard has a free in a good position but it clips the Arsenal wall and goes behind for a corner.
GOAL! Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal (Hazard, 90+1′)
That’s that — three points in the bag for Chelsea! Remy does well to dig the ball out from underneath his feet in the box and lay it off to Hazard. His shot takes a MASSIVE deflection off Calum Chambers and spins past a helpless Cech.
It’s hard to tell whether it’s Hazard’s goal or a Chambers og, but we’ll give it to the Chelsea man for now.
There’ll be five additional minutes so about two more to play before the cameras pan to Mourinho and Wenger to see if they shake hands again.
FULL TIME: Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal
Done and done. Wenger heads off down the tunnel, Mourinho gives Terry a pallsy-wallsy hug, and Chelsea pocket the three points.
Kurt Zouma is the BT Sport man of the match, FYI.
Chelsea up to 10th now on seven points while Arsenal, after a second defeat in four days, lose ground at the top.
That’s all from us for now. Thanks for reading and for commenting.
