Arsenal 1-1 (6-5 pens) Chelsea
Premier League fans have more than enough reason to get excited about this ICC 2018 friendly between Arsenal and Chelsea.
These teams are powerhouses recognised all over the globe. They have quality players from the goalpost to the final third. While they endured disappointing seasons last year, they face a fresh page with their new managers.
The Aviva Stadium was loud for more than 90 minutes as both teams played at a level that could not be considered as a mere friendly.
ICC 2018 betting for this match was hard, given how competitive both sides look, but fans definitely didn’t mind the result. Quality football was aplenty as youngsters and veterans from both sides gave Ireland (and the rest of the world) one heck of a show.
Highlights of the game
Chelsea had a great start in the game’s early minutes. Cesc Fabregas was left alone right outside the box, forcing former Chelsea man Petr Cech had to make an outstanding save at his shot attempt.
The Blues soon found their first goal: Antonio Rudiger lost his man during the corner following Fabregas’ shot. He had all the time in the world and powered a header past Cech, exposing Arsenal’s terrible defence. The goal, combined with Chelsea’s hard pressing, put Arsenal in a tough situation.
The nightmare continued for the Gunners nine minutes later as Hector Bellerin found himself outpaced by Callum Hudson-Odoi and was forced to concede a poor tackle in the penalty box. Fortunately for him, Cech stopped Alvaro Morata’s spot-kick and prevented putting his team in a 2-0 ditch.
Matteo Guendouzi, Arsenal’s new kid on the block, has showcased his quality to the delight of the fans in the stands. In the first half alone, he has covered a huge space on the midfield. He has also threaded a number of beautiful passes from the back.
The Gunners finally came to life in the 31st minute: Ozil made a brilliant pass in the middle, starting a thread of beautiful passes that threatened the Chelsea backline. A minute later, Henrikh Mkhitaryan made a good run on the right side and fired a bullet of a pass to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. However, the Gabon striker missed out on the equaliser, and his reaction after the miss told everyone what a wasted opportunity that was.
Hudson-Odoi had another chance to double the lead after beating the offside trap and engaging Cech in a one-on-one. However, combined efforts from Cech and Mustafi denied the youngster his brace. Arsenal had a quick strike back, but Willy Caballero had a hand to the ball missing the target.
The second half saw Arsenal dealing with Chelsea’s high pressing a lot more calmly. They also seemingly slowed the game down, trying to break down the Chelsea defence through shorter passes led by Ozil. They have seemingly dominated possession in the second half while the Blues are now unable to take hold of possession.
Alexander Lacazette, who replaced Aubameyang, almost scored for the Gunners in the 76th minute. After Jorginho lost the ball in the middle of the park, Ozil and friends quickly countered. Lacazette pulled off a beautiful nutmeg over Andreas Christensen, but his shot went just wide.
Arsenal slowly tried to force their way to a goal late in the game, but Marcin Bulka’s outstanding saves and the rest of Chelsea’s youth impressively managed to hold their ground.
Lacazette finally equalised in the final moments of the game to force a penalty shootout. Reiss Nelson fired delivered a beautiful cross that threaded through plenty of blue shirts and found the Frenchman who tapped it in.
The shootout was as high-strung as the other ICC 2018 games that ended this way. Everyone coolly converted their penalty attempts. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, however, targeted his shot too close to the middle, a shot that was easily saved by Cech. Iwobi ended the game by scoring the game-winning spot kick.
Key statistics
Guendouzi has been involved in all of Arsenal’s ICC 2018 results. The 19-year-old may become a key man for the Gunners moving forward. The way he has asserted himself on holding midfield role with his tackles and long passes has already made him a favourite at the Emirates. He was a key cog in Arsenal’s 59% possession rate through 90 minutes.
Another interesting factoid from the game would be the penalty takers for Arsenal during the shootout. Guendouzi, Iwobi, Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are all under 24 years old. All of them calmly slotted the penalty past the equally impressive Bulka.
Chelsea subbed off all of their players in the second half, which saw a dip in quality when it comes to their play. However, many of their young players played great football. Hudson, Odoi, Christensen, Bulka, Loftus-Cheek, Tammy Abraham, and Ethan Ampadu are all impressive young players who stepped up in the friendly.
While it is highly likely that these youngsters will be swept under anonymity once more as they will likely go through Chelsea’s notorious loan system. However, we have to admit that the Blues have a lot of outstanding young talent waiting to break through to the first team.
These facts should encourage both Emery and Sarri to not hurry their squads and give their young guns a shot through the season.
What’s next?
Chelsea have a tough test coming up as they face Manchester City for the Community Shield at Wembley. SBOBET predictions for this game will be hard to make as both sides look to be in top shape.
Arsenal also have an interesting finale to their tune-ups. They will play Lazio at Solna, and that game will also prove to be tough.
However, we can be sure that both of these teams’ players will be looking to impress their gaffers in the hopes of making the team for the coming season.
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