Chelsea 1 - 1 Arsenal: Every Drog Has Its Day

This was the only Premiership game of the weekend that I actually got to watch -- thank you, 9-hour time difference! Although I'm still disappointed that I missed Man United stomping on City in the derby, and Jamie Carragher scoring for the first time this millennium -- but if you were only going to watch one, this was the one to catch. And if you were going to watch it, I can't think of a better venue than a pseudo-Westernized sports bar in Nagoya at 1:00 a.m., with a mug of beer that was roughly the size of my head.

Anyway, the game was thoroughly entertaining, although that was not really due to the quality of the football but more because of the amusement factor of watching both teams act like complete and utter twats. (I'm still not sure if Lehmann and Drogba got booked there for shoving each other or for falling over like they'd recently graduated from the Cristiano Ronaldo School of Gravitational Impairment.) And seeing as I detest both teams about equally, a draw was a good result. The only way it could've gotten better was if a player had been sent off.

Preferably Ashley Cole.

My favourite post-game comment comes from -- yes, you guessed it -- Jose Mourinho:

"It is very funny, very enjoyable to see this kind of co-operation when a big team comes to Stamford Bridge and is very happy with a point."

Is he implying that Arsenal are supposed to roll over and die when they play Chelsea, just so that they can make things harder for United? I know that Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson aren't exactly BFF, but somehow I think this is stretching it.


Looking for my coverage of the Club World Championship in Japan? It's over at OleOle.com: