Chelsea and Arsenal were in European action tonight
Chelsea vs Maccabi Tel Aviv
Jose Mourinho’s Blues hosted Israeli champions Maccabi Tel Aviv at Stamford Bridge and cruised to a 4-0 victory.
Chelsea have endured their worst start to a league campaign since 1988; and it looked as if their poor Premier League form would carry into their Champions League games, as Eden Hazard put a penalty over the crossbar in the opening six minutes.
However, the English champions were soon into their stride and opened the scoring through a Willian free-kick, before his fellow Brazilian Oscar made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time.
Mourinho’s men picked up where they left off after the half time interval, Cesc Fabregas assisting Diego Costa to make it 3-0.
Fabregas would then turn goalscorer as he gift wrapped the three points. Loic Remy’s shot could only be parried by the opposition goalkeeper and the Spanish playmaker followed it up to make it 4-0.
Chelsea top Group G thanks to a clean sheet and their superior goal difference from their victory.
The other result from the group saw FC Porto draw 2-2 away at Dynamo Kiev.
Dinamo Zagreb vs Arsenal
It was a completely contrasting night for Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal, who were defeated 2-1 away to the Croatian champions.
Arsene Wenger made six changes from the team that defeated Stoke City 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, including dropping Petr Cech for David Ospina.
These changes would come back to bite the experienced French manager, as the home side went 1-0 up through an unfortunate own goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Things would then go from bad to worse for the Gunners, as Olivier Giroud was sent off after he received a second booking for a foul on Zagreb’s Ivo Pinto. The centre forward will now be out of Arsenal’s home fixture against Olympiakos on match day two.
The Maksimir Stadium is a difficult enough place to play due to the hostile atmosphere created by the fans, so just imagine how much of a struggle it was for Arsenal when they were reduced to 10 men and then fell two behind.
Junior Fernandes headed in Dinamo Zagreb’s second just before the hour mark.
However, Wenger’s team dug in and did scrape a goal through Theo Walcott, but it would only be a consolation as the hosts held on for the three points.
Bayern Munich lead the way in Group F after a comfortable 3-0 victory away to Olympiakos, Dinamo Zagreb are in second and Arsenal sit third despite losing; they have a better goal difference than the Greek champions Olympiakos, who are rooted to the bottom.
This weekend
After differing fortunes on match day one, Chelsea and Arsenal turn their attention to their Premier League meeting at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Even though Pedro and Willian will miss the game for the Blues, the rest of the team will be full of confidence after their midweek performance.
The same can’t be said for Arsenal, but after Arsene Wenger finally beat Jose Mourinho in the Community Shield, they could stand in better stead than in previous years.
I have predicted Arsenal to take the spoils with a 2-1 win.
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