Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0: Three Things We Learned

It's tough to reflect on Arsenal's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea and draw wisdom.

The match turned from an interesting, cagey affair to an utter farce just before halftime, when the spotlight-seeking referee Mike Dean took the opportunity to expel Arsenal center half Gabriel.

Still, let's consider these three conclusions that emerged from the encounter.

Arsenal don't have the margin of safety to buffer it against awful officiating

This is the second straight match in which Arsenal players have seen red cards. After Olivier Giroud's expulsion in the Champions League on Wednesday, both Gabriel and Santi Cazorla were sent off against Chelsea.

Like most teams, Arsenal have struggled with the subsequent disadvantage.

That's the hard--and perhaps not very revelatory--truth.

There are some interesting aspects of this reality, though. Often a team's fans will rail at unjust officiating and say that it cost their team the game, but in many cases they're just looking for an outside scapegoat for their team's inadequate performance.

In this case, Arsenal fans are right to identify Saturday's referee as decisive. And just about any reasonably impartial observer would have to agree: The unwillingness or inability to punish Diego Costa properly, the failure to defuse the Gabriel-Diego Costa confrontation, and several other key borderline calls tilted this match in Chelsea's favor.

This experience, coming just after an encounter with another inept, touchy, or easily influenced match official in Zagreb, should serve as a lesson to Arsenal's players and staff: They're likely to face injustice; their task is to minimize its effects.

Succeeding in that situation will require extraordinary intelligence, mental fortitude, and balance. It'll also take leadership, which both Francis Coquelin (a second too late) and Nacho Monreal (rebuffed by the referee) tried to exercise on Saturday. I wonder if Per Mertesaker's or Mikel Arteta's presence on the pitch would have made a difference, recognizing, of course, that Mertesacker's presence might have meant Gabriel was on the bench rather than in the heat of the action.

Now we've seen the consequences when Arsenal don't exercise the "soft skills," as opposed to the physical skills, at this highest level of performance, and they're unpleasant.

Arsenal can execute the necessary tactical plan

Before the incident that changed the match, Arsenal showed its tactical flexibility, adapting the approach to fit the occasion.

Early on, the movement of Arsenal's forwards caused Chelsea some discomfort. When that activity didn't create the important early goal, the focus shifted to keeping Chelsea at bay.

This succeeded. Chelsea had only four shots on target in the first half, and just one of those, Pedro's smothered connection with a lofted pass to the far post, was inside Arsenal's penalty area.

Overall, even with a man and then two-man disadvantage, Arsenal conceded just two of what StatsZone calls "big chances" in front of goal, the Pedro shot saved by Petr Cech in the first half and Kurt Zouma's headed goal in the 53rd minute.

The approach was similar to the one Arsenal executed in winning at Manchester City last January. Saturday had the makings of another tactical masterclass but for the referee's intervention.

Alexis needs to lift off

When Arsenal could not identify, recruit, and attract a world-beating center forward this offseason, just about everyone acknowledged that the team would need a diverse supply of goals. Midfielders such as Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Özil would have to contribute more, Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck would need to stay healthy and be more productive, and Alexis, last season's top scorer, would have to add to his goal tally.

That mix certainly hasn't come together yet this season, and it's missing the key ingredient from Alexis.

It's not for lack of trying. Alexis ran himself to the limit on Saturday, coming off after 75 minutes. But when presented with Arsenal's one big chance of the match, he wobbled, missing the target from pointblank range not long after Zouma's opening goal.

That was Arsenal's chance to change the dynamic of the match -- despite the numerical disadvantage -- and the star man did not take it.

Whether he returned too quickly from leading Chile to the Copa America, whether his unrelenting schedule of the past two years has taken a toll, whether he just needs one shot to go in to get himself going -- Alexis needs a boost if Arsenal are to achieve their objectives.

Extra time

Arsenal showed its mettle by standing up to Chelsea's bullies. The response might not have been sufficiently cunning, but we can't question the passion. Wednesday's Capital One Cup tie against Tottenham presents an excellent opportunity to channel that spirit.

Arsenal 2 Stoke City 0: Three Things We Learned

Arsenal dominated Stoke Saturday but had to wait until Olivier Giroud's 85th minute header to secure a 2-0 home win.

The Gunners struggled in front of goal, with several shocking misses among the 27 attempts that did not find the net, but that's no revelation at this point. Here are three things we learned instead.

Maybe atypical goals should become the objective

When Arsenal's goal-scoring form wanes, the team often intensifies its efforts to execute the perfect pass-and-move action. We saw this in the last Premier League outing against 10-man Newcastle, which Arsenal won by virtue of an own goal.

There were a few occasions against Stoke when similar attacks were unsuccessful, most notably the one-two between Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil that sent the German through with only Stoke keeper Jack Butland to beat. Özil tried unsuccessfully to coax the ball past Butland at the near post.

Arsenal succeeded, though, with different approaches. The first goal was a long-range counterattack, commenced by a Francis Coquelin tackle in the Arsenal half and served up by a wonderful long pass from Özil to Theo Walcott. Walcott exploited Stoke's relatively high line, found just enough space, and rolled the ball under the onrushing Butland.

The second goal came from a Cazorla free kick and an accurate header by Giroud, who had eased between two dozy Stoke defenders. The free kick resulted from muscular play by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who drew a foul from Stoke's Phil Bardsley in a threatening area.

Again, the source of the play was not an intricate Arsenal move. Perhaps this diversified approach to goal is worth more attention.

Gabriel brings the pain

The Brazilian earned his third consecutive start in the center of the Arsenal defense and gave as good as he got with Stoke's physical forwards. The highlight, of course, was his second-half tussle with villain Marco Arnautevic, the culprit in Arsenal right back Mathieu Debuchy's shoulder separation last spring.

This time, Arnautevic fared worse. He clearly initiated the set-to with Gabriel, throwing an elbow and then a forearm into Gabriel's face as they chased down a ball. Gabriel fended off the second blow and, in one motion, clocked Arnautevic across the face.

The arm of justice.

It was just the most notable of Gabriel's successful interventions. He and Laurent Koscielny marshaled Stoke's rare attacks well, save for one loose headed clearance by Koscielny. Their quickness and physicality give opposition forwards a tough time.

On these performances, Per Mertesacker faces a real challenge to break back into to the starting lineup, especially if Koscielny's passing continues to improve. The Frenchman was Arsenal's top passer against Stoke, completing 75 of 83 passes. (Stats via FourFourTwo's StatsZone app.)

Arsenal have two point guards to lead a transition offense

The selection of Theo Walcott at center forward, coupled with Stoke's decision to push defenders slightly higher up the pitch, created excellent conditions for Arsenal's two skilled playmakers to shine. Santi Cazorla and Özil did.

Playing deep in midfield, Cazorla shook off some indifferent recent performances and showed his quality, particularly in the first half. He spotted runs by Walcott and Aaron Ramsey and launched pinpoint long passes to each of his teammates.

In the second half, Cazorla was at his dancing best, avoiding the inevitable Stoke challenges, getting himself into dangerous positions, and launching four shots, two quite threatening. His assist to Giroud and a similarly precise free kick to Koscielny in the waning minutes were two of the seven chances he created for teammates.

Meanwhile, Özil made the decisive impact with his assist for Walcott's opening goal. That pass, so quickly made after Coquelin had won the ball, caught Stoke off guard because they had moved slightly forward, thinking the biggest risk was a more involved Arsenal build-up. It was the most eye-catching and important of the eight chances Özil created in the match.

Extra Time: Arsenal's fullback combination is tough to beat

When Stoke manager Mark Hughes sent Xherdan Shaqiri and Arnautevic out as his wide forwards, he handed the initiative to Arsenal's fullbacks Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal. They took it and ran.

Bellerin attempted 20 passes in the final third, completing 17 of them (85 percent) and creating four scoring chances for teammates. His cross to Walcott in the first half really deserved a better finish.

Monreal posted less impressive attacking numbers, but he identified the gaps in Stoke's defense and made runs to exploit the openings. His work in the air, winning three of three duels against an historically airborne opponent, suggests that he could also be a worthy outlet (as Bacary Sagna was) for the goalkeeper's kicks in Giroud's absence.