final defeat to Arsenal with a 3-0 friendly win over
the Gunners in Beijing on Saturday.
A terrific double from Michy Batshuayi followed a
goal from Willian to secure the victory for Antonio
Conte's side in their second pre-season outing.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insisted
beforehand that a game against their London rivals
"is never a friendly" but his side were punished for
some slack defensive work by a ruthless Chelsea.
Willian and Batshuayi scored in quick succession
in the first half, and the Belgian striker –
undoubtedly with a point to prove following the
club-record signing of Alvaro Morata – made it
3-0 with a sublime second-half strike, while
Arsenal's attack too often appeared laboured.
The result and performance will be welcomed by
Conte ahead of Chelsea's clash with Bayern
Munich on Tuesday, while Wenger will have plenty
to ponder as he prepares his side for the Emirates
Cup tournament next weekend.
Chelsea spurned two clear chances in a lively start
to the match, Victor Moses shooting straight at
David Ospina from close range before Willian
dragged a shot narrowly wide after racing clear into
the penalty area.
Pedro was replaced by Jeremie Boga after a
collision with Ospina on the edge of the Arsenal
box and the game rather lost its pace in the
aftermath, although Aaron Ramsey came close to
connecting with a superb Mesut Ozil pass.
Willian and Moses brought more good saves out of
Ospina and Batshuayi had the ball in the net from
the resulting corner, but Arsenal were spared by the
offside flag.
Ospina, though, was powerless to stop Willian from
breaking the deadlock with his next effort. The
Brazilian was allowed to drive towards the centre
of the box and cut back onto his right foot before
bending a fine low shot in off the right-hand post.
Just over a minute later, Conte's side doubled their
lead. Arsenal's defence was again in disarray and
Batshuayi took full advantage, bending a superb
left-foot shot beyond Ospina and into the left-hand
corner from 18 yards out.
Olivier Giroud was one of six changes made by
Wenger at half-time – although his introduction
was almost prevented by the match officials as he
had not been included as a substitute on the team
sheet – and the France striker almost reached a
teasing Ramsey cross with the Gunners' first attack
of the half.
But Chelsea soon put the game out of sight with a
quite brilliant third goal. Marcos Alonso skipped
easily beyond Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and cut
the ball back to Batshuayi, who blasted an
unstoppable first-time shot into the top corner from
20 yards out.
Arsenal had plenty of the ball without threatening a
comeback in the closing stages and only Ospina's
save from youngster Fikayo Tomori on the break
prevented a more one-sided scoreline.
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