Chelsea vs Arsenal: Michy Batshuayi helps Chelsea cruise past Arsenal in three-goal demolition job in China

No club record buy Alvaro Morata – the £70million Spaniard could not get a visa in time to join his new team-mates in China – while neither Tiemoue Bakayoko nor Antonio Rudiger featured in the Blues line-up.
Yet, you would never have guessed it on the evidence of this pre-season clash in Beijing as the Premier League champions tore FA Cup winners Arsenal to pieces.
Ok, so Arsene Wenger’s men were not at full strength,with two homegrown kids Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Cohen Bramall initially making up their numbers.

However, that should not hide the glaring gap in class between the London rivals – only 15 days before they meet again in the Community Shield.
Certainly, Wenger, who claimed beforehand that this game was “not a friendly”, will want to see a considerable improvement by then.

As for Chelsea, they are only going to get better and stronger once their trio of new superstars - plucked from around Europe for a combined cost of £130million - are added to the mix.
That spells bad news for the rest of the English elite bidding to stop Conte’s outfit making it back-to-back titles.

A superb double from Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi and a fine opener from Willian secured their victory at the Bird’s Nest stadium – but the margin could and should have been so much greater.
Chelsea’s performance smacked of a side full of players desperate to stake their claim to the manager before Morata and Co turn up.

t could scarcely have been more different from their desperately disappointing display in the Cup final defeat to Arsenal back in May.
Meanwhile, the Gunners, in their fourth warm-up match of the summer, were all over the shop from the outset.
Indeed, Chelsea might have scored four times inside the first eight minutes such was their desire and dominance.
The best of those opportunities fell to Willian but, with only David Opsina to beat, the Brazilian, who netted 12 times last season term, flashed inches wide.
Arsenal’s Colombian stopper then produced a fine stop from Victor Moses before the inevitable Blues breakthrough came in the 40th minute.

 

 

Willian skipped past Nacho Monreal and buried a curling shot in off the far post.
And a minute later Batshuayi, who earlier had been denied a goal by the offside flag, doubled the advantage – with an equally lethal left-foot finish.
Wenger already wore that familiar troubled frown across his face. His £46million record signing Alexandre Lacazette barely had a kick in 45 minutes, while Mesut Ozil, reportedly close to agreeing a new £250,000-a-week four-year deal, was non-existent.
How Wenger expects this Arsenal side to challenge for honours if, as expected, Chile ace Alexis Sanchez leaves for Paris St Germain, is anybody’s guess.

As narrated by:  Express Newspapers