Wenger slammed for ‘sour grapes’ as Drogba runs riot
CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti accused opposite number Arsene Wenger of sour grapes after a vintage performance from Blues striker Didier Drogba torpedoed Arsenal’s Premier League title aspirations.
Drogba demonstrated his taste for running the Gunners ragged with a fine brace while unlucky Thomas Vermaelen put into his own net as the Blues reasserted their five-point lead at the top of the table.
Arsenal, in fourth place and now 11 points adrift of Chelsea, look to be out of the title race – a hammer blow that prompted Wenger to blame referee Andre Marriner for disallowing an Andrey Arshavin strike that would have made it 2-1.
But Ancelotti said: “I think they are upset because they lost. I think it was a foul on Petr Cech.”
And the Italian also hit back at Wenger’s suggestion that match-winner Drogba, who has now netted 10 in his last nine games against the Gunners, “does not do a lot”.
“He did two goals and for me it is a good job,” Ancelotti added. “He did a very good job in the second half, defending with his team-mates and maintaining balance in our team.”
Arshavin’s strike early in the second half was ruled out because Marriner judged striker Eduardo to have kicked the ball out of goalkeeper Cech’s hands, but Wenger called the decision “a massive mistake”.
“He cannot say one of our players has kicked the ball out of the hands of Cech,” said the Frenchman. “He said dangerous play. Eduardo wasn’t even in there.
“The referee got the turning point of the game wrong. Our title race has had a big blow.”
Imperious Chelsea have now won five league games in a row without conceding, and Arsenal failed to seriously threaten either statistic, even if they enjoyed much of the ball in the opening exchanges.
The complexion of the game changed dramatically three minutes before half-time, however, when Drogba opened his body to guide Ashley Cole’s left-wing cross into the far corner, via post and bar.
Before the interval came it was 2-0, and game over, when Vermaelen unwittingly touched in an almost identical delivery fromCole, who was booed his every touch from the fans of his former club.
Arsenal, augmented by substitute Theo Walcott, emerged post-interval desperate to hit back, but their belief visibly drained after Arshavin’s effort was disallowed.
And it was Chelsea, playing with the swagger of champions-elect, who struck again, Drogba curling a superb free-kick past Manuel Almunia in the dying moments.