Ahead of a busy period for the Blues, Chelsea’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois believes yesterday’s important 1-0 victory at the Emirates will increase confidence within the squad.
Guus Hiddink’s side were impressive from the get-go, and Per Mertesacker’s 18th-minute dismissal after a foul on Diego Costa allowed the Spanish striker to capitalise on the defensive weakness just moments later, to damage the Gunners title hopes and show a glimpse of the Chelsea many fans expected to see this season.
Courtois told the official Chelsea website:
It was very satisfying, Arsenal are doing very well this season and it was a difficult game. It’s a London derby as well so for the supporters it’s massive and it was a good result.
You need to win these games. I hope this will give us a confidence boost, we have the FA Cup on Sunday and the Champions League is coming up as well.
The decisive moment in the game was Mertesacker’s red card, giving Chelsea the confidence to attack, whilst Arsene Wenger’s side waited for opportunities on the counter attack.
After being forced into an early tactical reshuffle which saw Brazilian defender Gabriel Paulista brought on for Olivier Giroud, Arsenal lost their aerial threat and highlighted Theo Walcott’s lack of physical presence and clinical finishing.
After Costa latched onto Willian’s through-ball it looked like an uphill struggle for the men in red.
It was a brilliant pass, we knew there was a weakness in behind the two central defenders, we had to play the ball there and Diego is fast so he did very well. After the red card we stopped playing fast, Arsenal came back into the game and they were attacking us, but in the end we won so that’s okay.
Arguably the greatest success story of Hiddink’s second reign at Chelsea is the resurgence in form of Costa. The talismanic striker has now scored six goals in his last six appearances.
He’s a top striker and he will score more goals for us, this was a big one.
Blues fans will hope Costa’s current form continues ahead of important games in both the FA Cup and Champions League. After a season full of drama and false dawns, the calming influence of Guus Hiddink could lead Chelsea to silverware in a season many had written off.
