Chelsea 1, Arsenal 1
Lazio 3, Roma 0
Two great derby games last Sunday in Europe.
First up was London, and an absolutely brilliant game in the heavy rain – with two goals in the last 15 minutes, two balls off the post in extra time alone, and a goal-of-the-year candidate from Michael Essien to give Chelsea a share of the points in this crucial London derby game.
Arsenal might have turned their season around had they held onto their hard-fought lead; Chelsea could’ve regained their swagger had they completed the comeback. In the end, it was a result that helps neither team: Chelsea remained eight points adrift of league leaders Manchester United (they just cut that to five with a Wednesday win over Newcastle), and Arsenal – despite getting a rare point at Chelsea’s nearly impregnable Stamford Bridge, failed to help their position in the eight-team logjam between third and ninth places in the Premiership.
The nightcap was the equally intense Rome derby: Roma had almost all the possession and all the chances in the first half, but it was Lazio‘s Cristian Ledesma who broke the tie just before halftime with a stunning 35-yard strike on the counterattack. The second half was more of the same: Roma on the attack but never quite finishing, and Lazio absorbing the pressure, and then taking advantage of holes left in back. The result badly damages Roma’s chase of Serie A leaders Inter Milan, while bumping Lazio up to fifth place in the league.
This article appears in December 8 • 2006.