Arsenal F.C.–Chelsea F.C. rivalry

London derby

Arsenal and Chelsea players prepare for a corner kick during a Premier League match on 10 May 2009.
Other names Arsenal F.C. vs. Chelsea F.C.
Locale London
Teams Arsenal,
Chelsea
First meeting Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal
1907–08 Football League
(9 November 1907)
Latest meeting Arsenal 0–1 Chelsea
2015–16 Premier League
(24 January 2016)
Statistics
Meetings total 187
Most wins Arsenal (72)
Top scorer Didier Drogba (13)
All-time series Arsenal: 72
Drawn: 54
Chelsea: 61
Largest victory Chelsea 6–0 Arsenal
2013–14 Premier League
(22 March 2014)[1]

The rivalry between Arsenal and Chelsea is a football local derby in London between the two clubs. Arsenal play their home games at the Emirates Stadium, while Chelsea play their home games at Stamford Bridge.

Background

While they never considered each other primary rivals, as the two top clubs in London there has always been strong needle between the fans dating back to the 1930s. Matches between them would often attract large attendances.

The Arsenal and Chelsea rivalry has been more recently considered an important derby, after Chelsea's rise to the top class of the Premier League in the 2000s, when the two started to compete constantly for the English Championship.

According to an internet survey of fans in December 2003, the Arsenal fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Chelsea as their third rival, after Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.[2]

Those Chelsea fans who responded to the survey said that they considered Arsenal as their main rival, however Tottenham and QPR are their more traditional rivals.[2]

In a 2009 survey by the Football Fans Census, Arsenal fans named Chelsea as the club they disliked the most, ahead of their traditional rivals Tottenham. Chelsea fans named Arsenal as their second most-disliked club, behind Liverpool.[3] A 2014 Bleacher Report article ranks Arsenal as Chelsea's second most hated rival.[4]

History

The first league meeting between the two teams took place on 9 November 1907 at Stamford Bridge. This was the first Football League First Division game played between two London clubs and drew a then First Division record crowd of 65,000. A match between the clubs at Stamford Bridge in 1935 drew a crowd of 82,905, the second highest recorded attendance for an English league match. They met in two close contested FA Cup semi-finals in the 1950s, with Arsenal winning both times. In the 1960s Chelsea dominated the tie with 14 wins, two draws and just 2 losses during the decade.[5]

More recently the clubs have contested two major finals, the 2002 FA Cup Final, which Arsenal won 2–0, and the 2007 Football League Cup Final, which Chelsea won 2–1. The two teams have also met in the UEFA Champions League in the quarter-finals in 2003–04 drawing 1–1 at Stamford Bridge, and Chelsea winning 2–1 at Highbury to go through to the semi-finals.

In 2006 the transfer of Ashley Cole from Arsenal to Chelsea further stoked the rivalry, as Cole had been caught meeting Chelsea officials months before.[6]

The 2007 League Cup final was one of the most noted incidents. The game was marred by a fracas involving Frank Lampard, Cesc Fàbregas and others that resulted in yellow cards for the two and three other players sent off, the dismissal of Emmanuel Adebayor and incidents of Chelsea fans throwing celery at Arsenal players. This led the media to dub it the "Snarling Cup final".

On 27 December 2010, Chelsea came into the Emirates having beaten Arsenal 5 times in a row by a goal differencial of 13–2. Arsenal were victorious upon the final whistle however by a score of 3–1.

On 29 October 2011, another thrilling and fantastic game was played at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal won 5–3 with Robin Van Persie scoring a hat-trick and André Santos and Theo Walcott scoring one goal each. Frank Lampard, John Terry and Juan Mata scored the goals for Chelsea[7]

Overall, Arsenal have won the more games in history, having won 70 times to Chelsea's 54, with 52 draws (as of 21 April 2012).[8] Arsenal's record win was a 5–1 victory in a First Division match at Stamford Bridge on 29 November 1930. Chelsea's record win was a 6–0 victory at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on 22 March 2014. Chelsea also had scored 5 goals against Arsenal at Highbury on 11 November 1998. On 29 September 2012, where Chelsea became the first team to beat Arsenal three times at the Emirates with a 2–1 away victory. This followed a 4–1 win in 2009 and a 3–0 scoreline later that year. On 22 March 2014, on Arsène Wenger's 1000th game in charge, Chelsea won 6–0. This marked the most goals Chelsea had scored against Arsenal, Chelsea's biggest margin of victory against Arsenal and the joint heaviest margin of defeat suffered by Arsène Wenger at Arsenal.[9]

On 5 October 2014 Chelsea beat Arsenal 2–0, which meant Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had not won against José Mourinho in 12 attempts. This game also featured former Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas playing against his former club for Chelsea for the first time, recording an assist on Diego Costa's insurance marker. However, the match is most notable for a touchline fracas (shown right) that occurred between the managers in the technical area during the fierce match.[10]

The next game between them was a goalless draw at the Emirates which extended Arsène Wenger's win drought against José Mourinho to 13 games and also ended Arsenal's eight league game winning run.

On 2 August 2015, Arsène Wenger finally recorded a win against Mourinho, defeating Chelsea 1–0 in the 2015 FA Community Shield.[11]

Didier Drogba holds the mark for the most derby goals with 13 in all competitions.[12]

Players who have played for or managed both teams

Top scorers in the Premier League

Rank Scorer Club Goals
1 France Thierry Henry Arsenal 8
Ivory Coast Didier Drogba Chelsea 8
3 England Ian Wright Arsenal 7
4 Netherlands Robin van Persie Arsenal 5
5 Netherlands Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 4
6 England Dennis Wise Chelsea 3
Nigeria Nwankwo Kanu Arsenal 3
Italy Gianfranco Zola Chelsea 3
England John Terry Chelsea 3
Spain Juan Mata Chelsea 3
England Frank Lampard Chelsea 3
England Theo Walcott Arsenal 3

Honours

[13][14]

International Competition Arsenal Chelsea
UEFA Champions League 0 1
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup / UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League 1 1
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1 2
UEFA Super Cup 1
National Competition Arsenal Chelsea
First Division / Premier League 13 5
FA Cup 12 7
Football League Cup 2 5
FA Community Shield 14 4
Total 43 26

Statistics

As of 24 January 2016.[15]

Club P W D L
League
Arsenal 158 61 47 50
Chelsea 158 50 47 61
FA Cup
Arsenal 19 8 6 5
Chelsea 19 5 6 8
Football League Cup
Arsenal 6 2 0 4
Chelsea 6 4 0 2
UEFA Champions League
Arsenal 2 0 1 1
Chelsea 2 1 1 0
FA Community Shield
Arsenal 2 1 0 1
Chelsea 2 1 0 1
Totals
Arsenal 187 72 54 61
Chelsea 187 61 54 72

Biggest attendances

Chelsea 2–1 Arsenal: 88,103 (04/18/2009), Wembley (neutral)[16]

Arsenal 1–0 Chelsea: 85,437 (08/02/2015), Wembley (neutral)

Chelsea 1–1 Arsenal: 82,905 (12/10/1935), Stamford Bridge (Chelsea home)[17]

Arsenal 2–0 Chelsea: 73,963 (05/04/2002), Millennium (neutral)[16]

Arsenal 1–1 Chelsea: 68,084 (04/05/1952), White Hart Lane (Tottenham home)[16]

Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea: 62,642 (03/20/1973), Highbury (Arsenal home)[16]

Arsenal 1–0 Chelsea: 60,139 (12/16/2007), Emirates (Arsenal home)[16]

See also

References

  1. "Chelsea 6–0 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Rivalry Uncovered!" (PDF). The Football Fans Census. December 2003. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  3. London Football Report. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2013-02-09.
  4. "Chelsea FC: Ranking the Blues' 5 Most Hated Rivals". Bleacher Report.
  5. DERBY DEBATE – PAST AND PRESENT. Review.chelseafc.com (29 November 2008). Retrieved on 2013-02-09.
  6. "The Ashley Cole transfer saga". The Times (London). 8 September 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  7. "Chelsea 3–5 Arsenal". BBC. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  8. Arsenal vs. Chelsea. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2013-02-09.
  9. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26590673
  10. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29398780
  11. Cryer, Andy (2 August 2015). "Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea". BBC (UK). Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  12. Fraser, Stuart (5 August 2013). "Serves you right for not signing me, Arsene! Drogba further torments Wenger by making it 15 goals in 15 games against the Gunners". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  13. "Honours – First Team". Arsenal F.C. official website. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  14. "Trophy Cabinet". Chelsea F.C. official website. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  15. "Head to head Arsenal vs. Chelsea". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 stamford-bridge website
  17. Chelsea's website

External links

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