First Win against Chelsea in Premier League

“Prior to last season we’d beaten Chelsea in the Community Shield, but went on to lose both games in the League after that. Perhaps also because we failed to finish either match in eleven men. This time we stayed completely disciplined and the fact we managed to score from major opportunities turned out to be decisive,” said Petr after the game.

Arsenal had a marvelous first half. Already in the 11th minute Sánchez punished Cahill’s mistake and three minutes later Iwobi and Bellerin performed a billiard-like stunt finished off by Walcott, who raised to 2-0. Right before the interval, Özil added a third goal as a response to Sánchez’ cross.

“The first goal was crucial, helped us a lot. We made use of their mistakes, Alexis finished off his breakaway in a pretty uncompromising manner. Chelsea then had to open up their game a bit, they could no longer stay in blocks and wait for breakaways. We scored a second goal and it was our turn to focus on breakaways,” Petr described the spectacular first half.

“Chelsea started off the second half stronger; the first twenty minutes they kept us under a bit of pressure but we gave a solid performance and didn’t let them get back into the game. We never lost our cool,” explained Petr.

He performed his save of the day in the 83rd minute, during a one-on-one with Batshuayi. “I wasn’t too preoccupied during the course of the game, which is why it was all the more difficult when all of a sudden it was just me and another player. I waited for the right moment and sealed off the side where he was aiming. I’m just happy we managed to maintain a clean sheet.”

Arsenal is now third in the table. “It was important that we win this game. Everyone had also won before us. This way we’re still within reach of the top clubs and, in addition, we left Chelsea behind us,” stated Petr.

Even though Petr had played for Arsenal for the whole of last season, Chelsea games remain to be an emotional matter for Petr. “You can’t simply erase your memories of the eleven seasons. Last season it was more difficult since it was all too fresh. But I play for a different team now and I’m always in it for the win. No matter whom we’re playing,” said Petr.

He exchanged a couple of words with his former teammates. “The guys were pretty disappointed so they weren’t particularly talkative. I exchanged jerseys with David Luiz and Matič – they both wanted one,” Petr revealed.