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Arsenal Vs Chelsea: 5 things we learned – FA Cup Glory

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 01: Arsenal players celebrate with the trophy during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 01: Arsenal players celebrate with the trophy during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 01: Arsenal players celebrate with the trophy during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 01: Arsenal players celebrate with the trophy during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

At the weekend, Arsenal overcame Chelsea to win their 14th FA Cup in their history. Here are five things we learned from the 2-1 victory.

Firstly, I will apologise for not having any post-match coverage of Arsenal’s 14th FA Cup triumph on the site immediately after the best and biggest day of the season. It was not my intention for this to happen and was certainly not my decision, either.

For now, discussions are being held to solve the behind-the-scenes issues. In the meantime, we will continue to write for Pain in the Arsenal.

To restart this process, I thought it would be nice to publish my match thoughts from Saturday’s historic FA Cup Final victory over Chelsea. I posted these on social media in place of on the website, but I feel they are still relevant a few days later.

So, here are five things we learned from Arsenal’s triumphant weekend.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 01: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 01: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal during the FA Cup Final match between Arsenal and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 1, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images) /

5. Nicolas Pepe comes up big

It has been a tough first season for Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal. A £72 million price tag, a limited impact on the team, especially in the Premier League, and inconsistent form throughout, the Ivorian faced criticism as he struggled to step up to the mark. On this occasion, though, Pepe produced his best.

Playing on the right side of the front three, he was a consistent threat. A direct dribbler, with pace on the counter-attack, and quality in the final third, he won fouls, progressed Arsenal up the pitch with excellent ball carries, scored a lovely goal that was called off for a marginal offside, and provided the assist for Aubameyang’s second goal.

It wasn’t quite the match-winning performance that Arsenal will demand from Pepe consistently next season, but this was a key player coming up big when it mattered most, which is an encouraging sign after a turbulent season.

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