Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the only goal in a tame curtain-raiser at Wembley, ensuring Arsène Wenger has beaten José Mourinho for the first time in 14 attempts
There did not appear to be a handshake between the two managers at the end, though let’s not read too much into that – it is too early for controversy. What a pre-season for Arsenal though – three trophies! Petr Cech celebrates in front of his new fans, and then follows it up with plenty of embracing with his former and current team-mates. “We suffered today, the pitch was not great,” Wenger says on TV. “This is a good basis going into the Championship.”
Arsenal were impressive – especially because they showed a steeliness that has too often been absent from their performances. Chelsea will not be too bothered – they were lacking in attack but as we said a few hours earlier, we will have pretty much forgotten about all of this by Saturday afternoon when the real action begins.
Still, how exciting that football is back. Thanks for reading and for your messages. Byeeeee!
90 min +3: And from that Cazorla sends a glorious disguised pass forward to … Gibbs. His low side-footed effort (he should have tried a chip) is saved by the feet of Courtois.
90 min +1: Arsenal appear to be killing the game dead here. Cazorla has a free-kick 25 yards from goal. He hits it off the wall and wins a corner, ticking down another few precious seconds. It is taken short and Chelsea win the ball but are unable to break.
90 min: Matic sends a cross in from the left but Falcao is penalised for leaping into Mertesacker, while Arteta is ground after taking a blow when leaping too.
88 min: Gibbs takes down Matic. It’s a foul but there’s some handbags after. Fàbregas, once more, delivers the dead ball and Ivanovic heads over – he should have been offside, too, but there was no sign of a flag.
86 min: Arsenal almost put it to bed with a rare break. Giroud holds it up, playing in Ramsey. He picks out Cazorla to his right. His effort is blocked, Ramsey’s rebound is deflected for a corner. Cazorla takes it but he only has two red shirts to aim for in the area and Chelsea are not troubled.
83 min: Gibbs’ first act is to fould Moses. Fàbregas to deliver from deep on the right. Chelsea have gone to a three-man defence for the final stages. Arsenal looking to pull down the shutters.
81 min: Zouma crosses from the left but neither Oscar or Falcao can direct decent headers towards goal. Some action on both benches: Moses is on for Terry, Gibbs is on for Özil.
Per Mertesacker does just enough to put off Oscar’s header attempt. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters
80 min: Chelsea really turning up the heat now. Oscar, on the left, has a low cross cut out. But swathes of blue come right back at Arsenal who are pinned back.
79 min: Hazard is down in a heap after Monreal clips him from behind. Free-kick and last season’s player of the year will be fine to continue. Fàbregas sends in a dreadful free-kick with Terry and Cahill up from defence, failing to beat the first man.
74 min: The corner is half cleared but Fàbregas puts a second ball in. Terry rises at the back post and heads across goal where Zouma is on hand. He cannot get enough power on his header and Cech collects.
John Terry heads the ball in, but Cech’s got it covered. Photograph: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
73 min: Victor Moses is warming up enthusiastically and looks to be almost ready for his introduction. On the pitch, Hazard finds Fàbregas who is fouled. In a hurry, he takes it instantly and picks out Willian to his right. The Spaniard runs ahead, takes a return pass and wins a corner off Koscielny.
72 min: But Chelsea are soon back on the attack. Giroud is the only red shirt in the blue half of the pitch now. But Arsenal remain comfortable in defence for the most part.
68 min: Coquelin booked for fouling Oscar on the edge of the area. The Brazilian takes it. The ball heads for the top left corner and Cech is across to make a terrific save, turning the ball round the post for a corner.
Petr Cech makes the save. Photograph: Ian Kington/AFP/Getty Images
66 min: And within a minute Giroud has two half-chances, the first an awkwardly-positioned attempt at the rear stick following an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross, the second a long-range effort which was blocked by Cahill.
61 min: A good chance for the hitherto muted Hazard. Fàbregas dinks a delightful pass over the Arsenal defence but Hazard’s first touch is poor and he smashes the second over the bar. He’d find the net from there more often than not.
59 min: The ball is currently pinging back and forth between defences. Obviously, Chelsea will not be too fussed if they lose this but their lack of response to falling behind so far has been very disappointing.
52 min: Coquelin spots Özil running off the shoulder off Ivanovic but his pass is a little too slow and fails to find the Germany player. Oscar is about to come on.
44 min: Chelsea want a free-kick after Coquelin nudges Hazard over on the right. Probably a foul but play continues until Ivanovic goes down against Ramsey. A free-kick is indeed given for that, but Arsenal handle the delivery easily. We’ll have one additional minute.
42 min: Another scintillating break from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Özil, Cazorla and Bellerin cut the Chelsea midfield to ribbons with a lovely series of one-touch passes before picking out the goalscorer. His first touch is a little heavy but still sends a cross over Courtois and towards the back post. Ivanovic is on hand to clear under pressure from Monreal, however, and wins a free-kick for his troubles.
