Arsenal v Chelsea Top Five Memorable Moments
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The Europa LeagueFinal beckons as Chelsea and Arsenal lock horns in Baku.
When the pair meet there are usually fireworks and withChampions League qualification at stake for the Gunners this is sure to be ahighly-charged affair.
The odds reflect this with Chelsea at slight 27/20 favourites in the match betting, edging out their London counterparts who are 2/1 to get their hands on the trophy in 90 minutes.
This meeting of the cross-city rivals has had us flickingthrough the back catalogue for some epic past encounters.
We’ve come up with five that really live long in the memorystarting with a massive throwback…
Kanu Believe it! Chelsea 2-3 Arsenal
Arsenal were partying like it’s 1999 when Nwankwo Kanuscored a 15 minute hat-trick to steal three points at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues were cruising after goals from Tore Andre Flo andDan Petrescu had Chelsea two nil up going into the dying embers of the game.
If Kanu’s first two goals were instinctive, then thematch-winner showcased his genius.
After charging down a clearance, he rounded Ed De Goey onthe by-line before curling a sumptuous shot into the top corner.
Have some of that!
Parlourrrrrrrrrr! Arsenal win the 2002 FA Cup
Just before the millions invested by Roman Abramovich andthe Jose Mourinho era of dominance at Chelsea it was Arsenal who were the topdogs in London.
The 2002 FA Cup final was an end to end affair – that wasbefore Ray Parlour stepped up to give Arsenal the advantage in the 70th minute.
It’s perhaps the goal Parlour is most loved for in a Gunnersshirt and gave us Tim Lovejoy’s now immortal fan commentary.
‘Ah, it’s alright, It’s only Ray Parlour’.
Specialist in failure
After arriving in 2004, Mourinho was able to break thestrangle-hold that Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger had on the PremierLeague.
With Sir Alex looking for the formula up north, it was leftto Wenger to fight the battles in London.
And with the pair battling for supremacy in 2014, it was acutting comment made by Mourinho about Wenger that left a telling blow.
Mourinho lashed out calling the Arsenal boss a ‘specialistin failure’ with the North Londoners having failed to bag a single trophy inten years.
However, at the end of that season the Gunners got theirhands on the FA Cup after a 3-2 comeback win over Hull City.
Mistaken Identity
It was Arsene’s 1000th game in charge of Arsenal but thingsdidn’t go to plan for the Frenchman.
Chelsea thrashed their London rivals 6-0, which deflated theGunners title hopes – but the game is probably most remembered for refereeAndre Marriner’s red card clanger.
A fresh faced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took full flight topalm a goal-bound effort around the post – but the midfielder wasn’t the playerthat made the walk down the tunnel.
Marriner was convinced Kieran Gibbs was the culprit and gavethe Arsenal man his marching orders.
The rest as they say is history.
Argy-bargy!
Emotions would spill over into a shoving match on thetouchline at Stamford Bridge in October 2014.
Wenger was fuming following a challenge from Gary Cahill onAlexis Sanchez.
The cameras soon panned to the dugouts as Wenger and Jose wentat it in a memorable squabble between the two rivals.
Only time will tell if we see some touchline tussles, refereeinggaffes or a moment of brilliance. But judging by these five flashpoints it willbe one not to miss!
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