Chelsea's Late Charge on Arsenal

Chelsea battled back from a goal behind against Arsenal, and were denied victory by the jaws of the crossbar and post, as the spoils were shared amongst London’s top two sides. The Blues first mounted an attack on fifteen minutes, from Andriy Shevchenko’s curling effort. A minute later, Michael Ballack unleashed a long range screamer, which went narrowly wide. The woodwork denied Chelsea on eighteen minutes, as Frank Lampard’s shot hit the foot of Jens Lehmann’s right hand post, as the Gunners had a lucky escape. Arsenal went close on twenty one minutes, as a speculative long range effort from Robin Van Persie, went narrowly wide. Ex Gunner, Ashley Cole, raised the emotions of the away supporters, after the Blues left back caught Alexander Hleb with a late callenge and received a yellow card in the twenty second minute. In the thirty third minute, Michael Essien ballooned an effort from close range, and after Lehmann was caught flapping from a Lampard corner in the thirty seventh minute, Essien’s low strike was cleared off the line from Cesc Fabrgeas. At the start of the second half, Emmanuel Adebayor snatched at a shot, after leaving Carvalho in his wake, and Van Persie then headed over a cross by Adebayor. On sixty minutes, Fabregas fired a shot into the body of Chelsea’s stand in goalkeeper, Henrique Hilario. Arjen Robben then stamped his authority on seventy minutes, after latching onto Philippe Senderos’s loose pass, he fired at Lehmann, and Lampard was unable to follow up the rebound. Two minutes later from Robben’s build up play, Didier Drogba fired wide of Lehmann’s left hand post, and then Robben again caused havoc, as he shot narrowly wide of Lehmann’s left hand post. After Fabrgeas had shot over from a Van Persie free kick, Arsenal got the breakthrough in the seventy seventh minute, as Van Perise laid the ball off to Matthieu Flamini, who drilled his shot past Hilario, into the bottom left hand corner of the net. But Chelsea bounced back and after Drogba went close on two occasions, Chelsea drew level in the eighty fourth minute, as Lampard supplied a pass to Michael Essien, who from thirty yards out leathered the ball past Lehmann, into the top right hand corner, with a curling effort. Into stoppage time, Chelsea cursed their bad luck, as firstly Essien hit the underside of the crossbar and then Lampard struck a shot against the inside of the post, as the Blues made a late charge on Arsenal.