For the first 60 minutes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, the game looked remarkably familiar. Chelsea were passing the ball beautifully around the pitch. Wonderful movement off the ball. Using incredible amounts of imagination and creativity. Yet they couldn’t seem to score that crucial second goal.

Sound familiar?

Chelsea were Arsenal. Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side were a joy to watch, but they wasted chance after chance and failed to put the game out of Arsenal’s reach. Instead it was Arsenal, who played very much unlike the Arsenal we know and admire, that were the most decisive when they took the few chances they received to record an incredible 2-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

After Johan Djourou’s own goal gifted Chelsea their goal in the first half, it was up to Robin van Persie to capitalize on two gilt-edge chances to win the match for the Gunners. The second was a beautiful twist and turn to kick the ball past the reach of Petr Cech, but van Persie’s first goal was mired in controversy.

My first reaction was that van Persie was completely offside, but TWI co-commentator Robbie Earle was quick to call the goal a correct decision after he noticed that the ball deflected off Ashley Cole into van Persie’s path. After rewinding the play in the game several times, I could see how Earle’s reading of the game was spot on.

Here’s how the rest of the media summed up the controversial incident:

“He looked well offside when he drilled home the equaliser after 59 minutes” — Phil McNulty, BBC Sport.

“As the Brazilian slipped the ball through, Van Persie was clearly offside. Mike Dean waved play on, mysteriously, allowing the Dutchman to beat Cech with a strong right-footed finish.” — Henry Winter, The Telegraph, and

“The first of Robin van Persie’s goals, should have been ruled offside.” — Kevin McCarra, The Guardian.

So, who was correct? Should the goal have stood and did Robbie Earle make the right call that everyone else missed? I’m siding with Earle on this one, but post your feedback below by clicking the comments link.

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What does it say about Arsenal when their reserve team last night beat Sheffield United 6-0 in the Carling Cup? Maybe the tournament should be renamed the Arsenal Youngsters Cup?

Here are some of the impressive young starlets who played last night:

• Kieran Gibbs. Midfielder, 18 years old, only made his second appearance for Arsenal last night. His debut was one year ago in the Carling Cup when he came on as a substitute against, coincidentally, Sheffield United.
• Mark Randall. Midfielder, 18 years old, made his fifth appearance for Arsenal yesterday — but only his second start for the club. His debut was August 2007 against West Brom in, you guessed it, the Carling Cup.
• Francis Coquelin. Midfielder. The 17 year old made his debut last night for Arsenal although the Frenchman did make a couple of friendly appearances this summer after joining the Gunners from French side Laval.
• Henri Lansbury. Midfielder, 17 years old, made his debut one year ago against Sheffield United and played again last night, coming on as a second half substitute.
• Jay Simpson. Striker. 19 years old. This is another player who made his official debut last night for Arsenal against Sheffield United. Last season he played on loan at Millwall scoring six goals for the London club.

The teammates who played alongside those youngsters were:

Lukasz Fabianski, Gavin Hoyte, Alexandre Song, Johan Djourou, Fran Merida, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Carlos Vela and Niklas Bendtner.

The amount of talent that Arsenal possesses is staggering. Many of the players fielded last night were essentially C Team players with little or no first team experience. Yet the team still clobbers Sheffield United six nil. Unbelievable.

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