Didier Drogba proved too much for Arsenal to handle as Chelsea won the London derby comfortably 3-0 on Sunday. (Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images)
Ashley Cole came back to haunt his former club and Didier Drogba continued to be the decisive force in the London derby.
Cole supplied the service for Drogba to convert the first goal for the visitors a few minutes before halftime.
Cole put the ball in the danger area to create the second Chelsea goal as the cross was diverted into the back of his own net by center back Thomas Vermaelen.
Drogba then rubbed salt in the Arsenal wounds with a 25-yard free kick near the end of the match.
Chelsea claimed for a penalty when Nikolas Anelka was brought down in the box by Bacary Sagna. Arsenal had a goal disallowed when Eduardo was judged to have kicked the ball out of Petr Cech’s hands.
For Arsenal, this match was an opportunity to show their title credentials. However flair is no substitute for power, which Chelsea had in abundance. Arsenal kept possession for periods of time but failed to break the back line of the Blues. They clearly lacked the incisiveness of van Persie and the power of Nicklas Bendtner.
Chelsea holds the tightest defense in the league and they have now tied Arsenal for the most potent offense. The Gunners are now 11 points back of the Blues with a game in hand.
Chelsea kept their sixth clean and has a five-point lead on Manchester United who are second in the English Premier League.
The appearance of Ashley Cole stoked the Arsenal fans that are still aggrieved by the way he left his former club. The good performance of Cole would have been a bitter pill to swallow.
Everton 0, Liverpool 2
Liverpool won the Merseyside derby with a deflected shot from Javier Mascherano and a converted rebound from Dirk Kuyt.The home side dominated play for large parts of the game but could not make the breakthrough they needed.
Pepe Reina was outstanding in goal for Liverpool and pulled off a double save by stopping a Tim Cahill header and then a hard shot from Marouane Fellaini.
Everton manager David Moyes told the BBC: ”You have to earn your luck. We worked really hard and I was hoping we’d earn that luck but we didn’t. It was disappointing. But we also missed some chances.”
Portsmouth 1, Manchester United 4
A Wayne Rooney hat trick and a Ryan Giggs free kick saw United beat bottom of the table Portsmouth.Rooney got the first from the spot when Michael Brown brought him down.
Pompey got one back from the spot when Kevin-Prince Boateng converted seven minutes later.
Giggs crossed to set up Rooney to slot home just after the break and then England’s top striker completed the hat trick from the penalty spot six minutes later.
Giggs then rounded up another impressive performance with a sweet free kick to net his 100th Premier League goal a day before his 36th birthday.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson told the BBC: “Ryan Giggs is an exceptional player. A rarity. He will play for two years yet.”
“So many things were happening [in the match]. It is a great result for us and some of the football [soccer] was good.”
