London is RED (12/26)

Okay, maybe not red, but it certainly isn't blue.

Arsenal played Chelsea today (12/26) in a Boxing Day London Derby matchup. I must admit, I was not optimistic about the game leading up to it, but my first shimmer of hope appeared when I saw the starting 11 Mikel Arteta picked out for us. Three names stood out to me: Emile Smith-Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. The youngsters were back, and playing behind an experienced and energetic Lacazette. At the very least, we were in for an exciting game.

And an exciting game we got. The Gunners looked bright immediately, as they attacked The Blues and won a couple corners. I was watching in awe, as a boring Arsenal side I had grown so accustomed to watching were passing with a purpose, breaking defensive tactics with quick "one-twos," and showing urgency. It wasn't beautiful by any means, but it was 100 times better than watching Gabriel and David Luiz pass back and forth all game. We finally looked like a competent soccer club.

We found our first breakthrough when Granit Xhaka played a brilliant through-ball (Yes, Xhaka played well) to Kieran Tierney who drew the contact in the box and won us a PK in the 34th minute. Our veteran striker Lacazette finished the job... up 1-0. Just before halftime, Bukayo Saka confidently won us a free-kick just outside the box, and Xhaka lined up to take it.

...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZoDjTPy8T0

#XHAKABOOM

Absolutely slotted it in the top right corner. I'm not the biggest Xhaka fan, but we have to give credit when it's due. Our two first half goals don't happen without him. 2-0 going into halftime.

We started the second half with energy too, and Bukayo Saka, whether he meant it or not, hit one in from distance in the 56th minute. 3-0. It's heaven for Arsenal fans.

The last 10 minutes were a bit scary, with Abraham scoring in the 85th minute. We then gave away a penalty in around the 90th minute but our big man Leno came up huge with a stop.

Arsenal win 3-1. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to win a league game. I'm ecstatic, Arsenal fans all over the world are ecstatic, now let's go over some notable performances.

Let's start with Chelsea: Pulisic is a joy to watch.

Okay now on to Arsenal; Let's talk about the youngsters. Bukayo Saka was my Man of the Match, he has truly been our most consistent performer throughout this dreadful campaign, and he showed more of it today. He was dynamic all over the pitch, finding pockets in space and making threatening balls to our wing-backs. He bagged us a goal and won us the free-kick that Xhaka slotted. The two others, Martinelli and Smith-Rowe, need to play every game, to be frank. They give us the creativity we need in the final third. Both of them should've scored, but with experience and increased confidence they will start showing up on the stat sheet. They can provide what we are missing out on by sitting Mesut Ozil. They may be a long way from his creative genius, but as long as Ozil is being benched we HAVE to give these young guys more chances.

Kieran Tierney. Give him the captains armband! He eats, sleeps and breaths Arsenal, and leaves it all on the pitch every game.

With that being said, our captain Bellerin put in a decent performance as well. He's been in god-awful form as of late, but he redeemed himself a bit with today's performance.

Lacazette looked dangerous today as well. His play style blends in well with the youngsters playing around him, as they all seem to feed off each other's energy.

A couple more notes before I close the blog. Willian should never play another game in an Arsenal kit, and the Elneny hype is over. He's aggressively average, and once Thomas Partey comes back from injury he shouldn't get very many minutes. He's just boring to watch to be honest, and shows no confidence on the ball.

All smiles from me though. 3-1 London Derby victory is all I could've really asked for. I'm gonna enjoy this win for a day or two, but try not to let it give me too much hope. Happy Holidays, Gunners!