Chelsea vs Arsenal
Who won: Chelsea 2-1
Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday, August 7, 2005 at Principality Stadium. Goals for Chelsea: Didier Drogba (8', 57'). Goals for Arsenal: Cesc Fàbregas (65').
Play by play
- 93'
FULL-TIME: A friendly it might be, but both sides were desperate to win and played with admireable determination. Chelsea were the better side; quicker, stronger and more direct. Arsenal can take a lot of pluses from the match, but face a tough challenge to catch Chelsea again this season.
- 93'
SWP dances past Cygan, but Cole is quick to get back and rob the little winger. Fabregas gives the ball away to Cole, thirty yards out, but Lauren is alert enough to slide in and clear for a corner.
- 92'
CHELSEA SUB: Geremi on, Lampard off. A meaningless substitution, with only seconds remaining.
- 91'
Gilberto volleys high over the bar from the edge of the area after getting on the end of a clearing header.
- 90'
Three minutes of stoppage time will be played.
- 90'
Arsenal are pushing forward in numbers in search of this equaliser; this might be a friendly, but neither side wants to lose.
- 89'
After a great deal of pushing and shoving in the wall, Van Persie fires a low ball in to the box, but Chelsea stand firm and clear the danger.
- 88'
Van Persie and Reyes stand over the ball...
- 88'
Fabregas tries to turn away from three Chelsea defenders, but is brought down in the process. Free kick, 25 yards out, right-of-centre...
- 87'
Henry latches on to a loose ball on the edge of the Chelsea area, though his shot isn't struck with a great deal of power and Cech saves low down.
- 86'
Joe Cole seems to have a nice tan; he's obviously spent much of his summer sunning himself on a yacht somewhere in the Mediterrenean Sea.
- 85'
Strangely, Crespo opts not to send over a cross towards Cole in the Arsenal area; instead, he takes the ball towards the corner flag, seemingly to waste some time. He wins a corner.
- 84'
Cole collects a ball through the middle, spins away from a challenge, but his right-foot shot from 25 yards flies well wide of Lehmann's post.
- 84'
SWP does superbly to fire over a cross from a tight angle, though Cole's attempted volley is sliced horribly.
- 83'
Gallas and Makelele combine to see off Hleb's dart through the middle; the ball is then swept up-field, where Cole is forced to make a good challenge against Crespo as Chelsea broke.
- 82'
Lampard is yellow carded after diving in on Van Persie out on the right touchline. It was something of a needless challenge at this stage of the match.
- 82'
Van Persie fires a left-foot shot goalwards, but Cech has a great view and collects easily.
- 82'
Del Horno is penalised for a trip on Reyes as the two Spaniards sprinted towards the Chelsea goal. Free-kick, 25 yards out, slightly right-of-centre.
- 81'
SWP fires a first-time pass out to Crespo on the left-wing. He lays the ball in to Cole, but the England midfielder's shot is blocked on the edge of the area.
- 80'
Cygan's clearance is charged down; it falls to Crespo, but the striker can't quite get the ball out from under his feet in time.
- 79'
Gallas gingerly gets to his feet after a challenge inside his own area; after a few tentative steps, he seems okay.
- 78'
ARSENAL SUB: Lauren off, Hoyte on. A run-out for the young right-back, who played a few games for the first team at the end of last season.
- 77'
The pitch here at the Millennium Stadium hasn't really helped flowing football this afternoon; it seems to be very soft, and the grass a little longer than usual.
- 76'
This time, it's SWP who is caught off-side as he attempted to latch on to a long diagonal ball to the right wing.
- 75'
Lampard attempts an audacious long shot, but he slices it well wide of Lehmann's goal.