Diego Costa’s first-half strike earned Chelsea victory and a league double over title-chasers Arsenal who had Per Mertesacker sent off in the first half.

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute when the German brought down Costa, who was through on goal.

Five minutes later the Spain striker put the Blues ahead when he tucked home Branislav Ivanovic’s low cross.

Costa also forced a good save from Petr Cech, and Ivanovic’s header was cleared off the line by Nacho Monreal.

The home’s side’s best chance fell to Mathieu Flamini who fired over from close range when he attempted to convert Aaron Ramsey’s through-ball with a kung-fu kick.

Victory sees the Blues move up to 28 points and 13th position – their highest placing since 26 October. Defeat for the Gunners leaves them in third, three points behind Leicester who have 47 points.

More to follow.





Lineup, Bookings (5) & Substitutions (5)

Arsenal

  • 33 Cech
  • 24 Bellerín
  • 04 Mertesacker Dismissed
  • 06 Koscielny
  • 18 Monreal
  • 20 Flamini Booked
  • 16 Ramsey
  • 28 Campbell (Sánchez – 57′ )
  • 11 Özil
  • 14 Walcott (Oxlade-Chamberlain – 75′ )
  • 12 Giroud (Gabriel – 22′ )

Substitutes

  • 03 Gibbs
  • 05 Gabriel
  • 13 Ospina
  • 15 Oxlade-Chamberlain
  • 17 Sánchez
  • 21 Chambers
  • 35 Elneny

Chelsea

  • 13 Courtois
  • 02 Ivanovic
  • 05 Zouma
  • 26 Terry
  • 28 Azpilicueta
  • 12 Mikel Booked
  • 21 Matic Booked
  • 22 Willian
  • 04 Fàbregas
  • 08 Oscar Booked (Hazard – 77′ )
  • 19 Diego Costa (Remy – 68′ )

Substitutes

  • 01 Begovic
  • 06 Baba
  • 10 Hazard
  • 14 Traore
  • 18 Remy
  • 24 Cahill
  • 36 Loftus-Cheek
Ref: Mark Clattenburg
Att: 60,072


Match Stats

Possession

47




53

Shots

9




12

On target

1




6

Corners

6




7

Fouls

14




13

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Arsenal 0, Chelsea 1.

90:00 +5:12 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Arsenal 0, Chelsea 1.

90:00 +3:50

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Kurt Zouma.

90:00 +3:00

Attempt missed. Willian (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Eden Hazard.

90:00 +0:39

Hand ball by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

89:35

Offside, Chelsea. Nemanja Matic tries a through ball, but Loïc Remy is caught offside.

86:07

Attempt saved. Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

86:06

Attempt missed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Héctor Bellerín with a cross.

83:56

Foul by Eden Hazard (Chelsea).

83:56

Mesut Özil (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.

83:32

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.

82:33

Foul by Eden Hazard (Chelsea).

82:33

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

81:17

Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

81:17

Foul by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

78:12

Offside, Chelsea. César Azpilicueta tries a through ball, but Loïc Remy is caught offside.

77:00

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.

76:03 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Chelsea. Eden Hazard replaces Oscar.

74:57

Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

74:57

Foul by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

74:40

Offside, Chelsea. John Obi Mikel tries a through ball, but Loïc Remy is caught offside.

74:04 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces Theo Walcott.

71:26 Booking

Booking John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

71:21

Foul by John Obi Mikel (Chelsea).

71:21

Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

69:23

Attempt saved. Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Oscar.

68:00 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Chelsea. Loïc Remy replaces Diego Costa because of an injury.

67:59

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

67:07

Delay in match Diego Costa (Chelsea) because of an injury.

66:02

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by César Azpilicueta.

65:26

Foul by John Obi Mikel (Chelsea).

65:26

Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

63:42

Diego Costa (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the right wing.

63:42

Foul by Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal).

62:50

Attempt blocked. Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Theo Walcott.

62:47

Attempt missed. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Laurent Koscielny following a set piece situation.

62:09

Foul by Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea).

62:09

Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the left wing.

59:34 Booking

Booking Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

59:32

Foul by Nemanja Matic (Chelsea).

59:32

Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

58:06

Willian (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

58:06

Foul by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

57:32

Foul by Nemanja Matic (Chelsea).

57:32

Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

56:37

Offside, Chelsea. César Azpilicueta tries a through ball, but Diego Costa is caught offside.

56:18 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Alexis Sánchez replaces Joel Campbell.

55:11

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Aaron Ramsey.

54:59

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Mathieu Flamini.

54:55

Attempt blocked. Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Cesc Fàbregas with a cross.

54:38

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Joel Campbell.

53:51

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Héctor Bellerín.

51:40

Foul by Willian (Chelsea).

51:40

Theo Walcott (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

49:11

Offside, Chelsea. Nemanja Matic tries a through ball, but Diego Costa is caught offside.

48:36

Offside, Chelsea. Oscar tries a through ball, but Diego Costa is caught offside.

47:18

Foul by Diego Costa (Chelsea).

47:18

Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

46:11

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Laurent Koscielny.

46:10

Attempt blocked. Oscar (Chelsea) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

45:35

Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.

45:35

Foul by Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal).

45:00

Second Half begins Arsenal 0, Chelsea 1.

45:00 +1:11 Half time

Half Time First Half ends, Arsenal 0, Chelsea 1.

45:00 +0:57

Attempt missed. Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Aaron Ramsey with a through ball.

44:10 Booking

Booking Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card.

43:57

Willian (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

43:57

Foul by Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal).

42:49

Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

42:49

Foul by Joel Campbell (Arsenal).

42:10

Attempt blocked. Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Willian with a cross.

41:44

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Petr Cech.

41:42

Attempt saved. Diego Costa (Chelsea) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Willian.

40:55

Foul by Willian (Chelsea).

40:55

Nacho Monreal (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

37:15

Foul by Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal).

37:15

Diego Costa (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

35:05

Attempt missed. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mesut Özil.

33:56

Offside, Arsenal. Nacho Monreal tries a through ball, but Theo Walcott is caught offside.

33:24

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Branislav Ivanovic.

31:34

Attempt blocked. Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by César Azpilicueta.

27:59

Attempt missed. Diego Costa (Chelsea) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left misses to the left.

26:22

Hand ball by Diego Costa (Chelsea).

24:25

Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Branislav Ivanovic.

23:27

Foul by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

23:27

Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

22:15 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Arsenal 0, Chelsea 1. Diego Costa (Chelsea) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Branislav Ivanovic with a cross.

21:20 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Arsenal. Gabriel Paulista replaces Olivier Giroud.

20:43

Joel Campbell (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.

20:43

Foul by César Azpilicueta (Chelsea).

20:21

Foul by Olivier Giroud (Arsenal).

20:21

John Obi Mikel (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

19:01

Offside, Chelsea. Willian tries a through ball, but Kurt Zouma is caught offside.

17:53 Dismissal

Dismissal Per Mertesacker (Arsenal) is shown the red card.

17:45

Foul by Per Mertesacker (Arsenal).

17:45

Diego Costa (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

15:26

Attempt missed. Olivier Giroud (Arsenal) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Theo Walcott.

14:13

Attempt saved. Willian (Chelsea) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

14:11

Attempt missed. Willian (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left.

10:10 Booking

Booking Oscar (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

10:05

Joel Campbell (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the right wing.

10:05

Foul by Oscar (Chelsea).

9:11

Attempt missed. Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Joel Campbell.

6:11

Foul by Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

6:11

Oscar (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

3:12

Foul by Mathieu Flamini (Arsenal).

3:12

César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

1:51

Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Petr Cech.

1:49

Attempt saved. Oscar (Chelsea) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

1:19

Attempt missed. Joel Campbell (Arsenal) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Theo Walcott.

0:00

First Half begins.

0:00

Lineups are announced and players are warming up.

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