Per BBC Sport, Chelsea defeated Arsenal 4-1 on the road in front of 60,075 at Emirates Stadium to secure at least a third-place finish and ended Arsenal's 21-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League. The "bronze" finish in the League means the Blues will be guaranteed another spot in the Champions League next year.
Premierleague.com reports that Brazilian defender Alex ('28) and former Arsenal player Nicolas Anelka ('39) scored first-half goals and an own goal from Kolo Toure ('49) put Chelsea up 3-0. Arsenal did not score until the 70th minute when substitute Nicklas Bendtner headed one through the back of the net. The Blues' Florent Malouda iced the game in the 86th minute to put Chelsea up for good by three.
Londoners who claim fidelity to Chelsea expressed joy for this much-needed victory on the heels of the crushing loss to Barcelona on Wednesday:
cherchezuk chelsea won 4-1 shame on chelsea haters. am happy chelsea won the game. blue is the colour. am going to have a drink n relax kerrymannah My Chelsea boys have done me proud yet again! :D imperialjenny @James_Debate glad something went well for Chelsea this week :) massam01 Well done Chelsea-What a recovery-we were punch drunk for the first 20 mins but then got into the groove. See you at the Bridge next Sunday bob_storey Good result for Chelsea beating Arsenal 4-1. Doesn't take away the pain of the Barcelona #championsleague game though. Still hurting. NotAPretender "Ruthless Chelsea demolish Arsenal" Too right
Those representing Arsenal weren't as optimistic, but did think their team was the better on the field in today's fixture:
fabgirly Just watched Arsenal totally outplay Chelsea and lose 4-1. It's a funny old game... susanegreen disappointed with arsenal result though we played well believe it or not.. NextDoorButOne Tracks going in a slightly darker direction. Anger over Arsenal's form might be helping! djignorance The two most humiliating home defeats possible in one week. Thanks Arsenal. matt_d_rat is disappointed yet again with #Arsenal performance & just hopes the money I spent on a ticket today is put towards buying good defenders.