Arsenal vs Chelsea: As it happened...

Arsenal now find themselves in the third place, three points behind leaders Leicester City. Manchester City in second by virtue of better goal-difference. City and Arsenal have 44 points each with 15 games left in the season.

Former Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas was the man of the match.

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FULL-TIME Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea. Diego Costa’s first-half goal is the difference against the 10-man Gunners #ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/3kXKzAVgl5 — Premier League (@premierleague) January 24, 2016

Full-Time

90+6' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: And that's it. Full time at the Emirates. Chelsea's climb continues while Arsenal slumped to fifth league defeat of the season. Double for Chelsea over Arsenal. Gunners have now failed to score against the Blues for close to ten hours in the league.

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90+3' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Petr Cech joined other Arsenal out-field players in attack, on the corner. But nothing came off it, even as Chelsea got another move.

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90+2' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Ramsey tracked back to deny Remy the ball. Then Ozil was dispossessed by Hazard.

From another run, Willian dragged his shot wide. Couple of good chances for Chelsea.

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90+1' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Good run from Arsenal, and on yet another goal-mouth melee, Ozil had a tumble, but nobody was complaining. Into injury time. And another likely defeat for Wenger against Chelsea.

88' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Against the run, Fabregas and Remy managed to penetrate Arsenal defence. But Gabriel cleared. 

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87' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Lucky Chelsea. From a loose ball, Flamini could only produce a back-heel from an awkward position. And Arsenal are playing like title contenders, albeit a goal down.

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85' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Another scramble in front of Chelsea goal-mouth from a free-kick resulted following a Hazard foul on Ozil.

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84' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Arsenal free-kick thanks to a foul on Bellerin. And from the set-play, managed to press hard, thus earning a corner.

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82' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Foul throw from Ivanovic, but Arsenal failed to make any inroads. In fact, Chelsea produced a counter attack, forcing Cech to come out.

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80' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: A good spell from Arsenal with Ozil and Sanchez on the ball. A deflection off Ivanovic resulted in Arsenal throw in.

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79' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Masked Cesar Azpilicueta was beaten to pace by Oxlade-Chamberlain. Corner to Arsenal. And timely clearance from skipper John Terry, from the corner kick.

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77' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Guus Hiddink brought in Eden Hazard, for Oscar. Moments ago, Fabregas won a free-kick inside the Arsenal half.

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75' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Second substitute for Arsenal. Walcott out, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in.

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72' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Unwarranted foul from Mikel. Yellow card for putting his arms on Sanchez.

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69' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Fabregas had an attempt on the Arsenal goal. Cech had no problem though.

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69' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Bellerin, after a run, won a corner for Arsenal. Ozil's delivery from the right was taken cleanly by Courtois. Then, Costa on his knees again, after a run-in with Koscielny. Medics attending to him...

Substitute for Chelsea. Costa walking ever slowly, soaking in the applause from the traveling supporters. Loic Remy on for him.

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66' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Mr. Pantomime on show. Costa had the luxury to stay on his back for a while after a foul on him. Boos from the crowd.

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64' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Fabregas tripped Ramsey. Free kick to Arsenal. And what a let down for the home team. From the Ozil delivery, Arsenal ended up scrambling on the goal-mouth.

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60' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Sanchez had the first touch, and Matic was there to body check him. Yellow card to Chelsea player.

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59' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Gabriel had some trouble marking Matic inside the Arsenal box. Moments ago, Koscielny almost conceded a penalty, for body blcok to Fabregas. Goal-kick, nonetheless, to Arsenal.

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57' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: A series of set-pieces for Chelsea, all corners. From the third chance, Arsenal just about managed to clear, with Chelsea keeping the pressure on. Throw in for Chelsea on the left.

Then, Sanchez arrived, on for Campbell. 

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55' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: What a play from Ozil. The German hold onto the ball despite some physical pressing inside the Chelsea half, then lofted a nice ball for Walcott. The Englishman, however, failed to reach the ball, and Courtois won the ball.

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52' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Nice defending from Monreal, who cut a Willian delivery. Then, the referee allowed advantage, in favour of the hosts, then following a foul on Ozil, pointed to the original spot where Willian committed the first foul.

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50' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Promising spell from Arsenal. But Chelsea soon won back the possession.

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47' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: And soon, Chelsea got their act together, earning a corner.

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Second-half begins

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About that Per Mertesacker red card, Mark Clattenburg was probably forced to flash it considering as the German was the last man defending. For Diego Costa, what a way to punish the Gunners. Moments later after the send-off, he scored.

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First Time

HALF-TIME Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea. Diego Costa gives the visitors the lead after Per Mertesacker is sent off #ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/bPdcTi6Tfr — Premier League (@premierleague) January 24, 2016

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44+2' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: What a chance for Arsenal. Flamini could have scored, but his unnatural attempt, from a high ball, meant the ball was always going over the bar.

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45' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Koscielny escaped a booking for a late tackle on Willian. Free kick to Chelsea. Goal kick to Arsenal from a Fabregas delivery.

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44' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Moments ago, fit-again Alexis Sanchez was seen warming-up. His introduction may well bring in some life the ten-man Gunners.

Meanwhile, Costa once again had a shot on the target, forcing Cech to dive low on the right. Corner to Chelsea. But from the set-play, Arsenal launched their counter attack.

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41' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Another probe from the Blues. Ramsey was alert, and the Wales player found Bellerin on the run, then the Spaniard linked up with Campbell. But Arsenal wasted the chance, despite Walcott making a brilliant run.

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38' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Defensive discipline of this Chelsea side is in stark contrast to Jose Mourinho's Blues. Every time Gunners press forward, Chelsea defenders cover the ground well to deny any space to their opponents.

Gabriel, who has been assigned to mark Costa, brought down the Spaniard. Free kick to Chelsea.

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34' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Corner to Arsenal. Koscielny had a good run on the left from a Ramsey release. Moments ago, there was a call for handball inside the Chelsea box. Willian was lucky.

From the flag-kick, Arsenal missed a goal scoring opportunity with Walcott metres away from the rolling ball.

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32' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Desperate defending for Arsenal. Gabriel uses his body block a Fabregas shot.

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PHOTO Diego Costa applies the finish to Branislav Ivanovic's fine low cross. Chelsea lead 1-0 (28 mins) #ARSCHE pic.twitter.com/TS119xmnwe — Premier League (@premierleague) January 24, 2016

29' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Chelsea are ruling. After that red card and goal, Gunners have seemed to lost their plot.

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27' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: Off-side for the goal-scorer. Fabregas released a long ball from the Chelsea back-line, and the former Atletico Madrid player found himself marginally offside.

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24' Arsenal 0 - 1 (Costa 23') Chelsea: GOAL!!! That man Diego Costa. Sublime supply from the right by Ivanovic.

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21' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: And with that Giroud has been replaced by Gabriel to the disagreement of the Arsenal faithfulls.

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19' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Chelsea are making most of their build-ups from the right, while Arsenal from the left. In between, a call for hand-ball inside the Chelsea box. On the counter, Willian found an unmarked Costa, and the Spanish was brought down by Mertesacker.

The German is off. Red Card. Free kick to Chelsea, just outside the box.

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16' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Walcott did well to keep the ball in possession, then found Giroud on his left. The Frenchman tried a long-ranger, which failed to hit the target.

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15' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Willian, once again, managed to create problems for Arsenal defender, but Ramsey was there to clear the ball. Then, from couple of exchanges, the Brazilian had a go at Arsenal goal. Cech was there, though.

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12' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Flamini lost possession inside the Chelsea half after a lazy build up.

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11' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Yellow card to Oscar for a late lunge on Campbell. From the set-piece, Ozil tried to find a team-mate, but Chelsea did well the clear the danger away.

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10' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Giroud and Campbell combined well to penetrate the Chelsea defender, but Flamini missed the chance just in front of the goal.

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7' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Another free-kick to Chelsea from a scramble in the centre. But the visitors wasted the chance to create a move by sending a directionless long ball.

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4' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Mathieu Flamini committed a rough tackle and free kick to Chelsea in their own half. Then, Chelsea, thanks to a brilliant Willian run, the Blues managed to test Arsenal defenders.

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2' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Then from a goal-kick, Chelsea won the first corner kick of the match.

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1' Arsenal 0 - 0 Chelsea: Arsenal in their traditional red and whites, and Chelsea in all blues. Arsenal won a throw on the left, then from the build-up Gunners have the first chance.

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London derby kicks-off at the Emirates...

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Once again, here are the teams:

Arsenal XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Campbell, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.
Subs: Gibbs, Gabriel, Ospina, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanchez, Chambers, El-Nenny.

Chelsea XI: Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Matic, Willian, Fabregas, Oscar, Costa.
Subs: Begovic, Baba, Hazard, Traore, Remy, Cahill, Loftus-Cheek.

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Mark Clattenburg will be in charge of the this crucial match in London. Minutes in to the kick-off and players are already out.

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‘We’ve got Ozil. Mesut Ozil. I just don’t think you understand. He’s Arsene Wenger’s man. He’s better than Zidane!' pic.twitter.com/xJGjLEx2GV — Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) January 24, 2016

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In today's first match, struggling Swansea beat Everton 2-1 at Goodison Park, thanks to Andre Ayew's winner.

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Big news: Mesut Ozil back for Arsenal; and for the champions Chelsea, Eden Hazard returns to the team.

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Here is the team-sheet for the match:

Here's the official #AFCvCFC teamsheet. Not long to go now Gooners, how are you feeling? pic.twitter.com/xi0mDsG6wN — Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) January 24, 2016

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Preview

The Gunners` 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Community Shield in August was Wenger`s first success against his arch rival Jose Mourinho in 14 attempts.

But that victory in the Wembley sunshine proved a false dawn for Arsenal in their attempt to end Chelsea`s stranglehold over their derby showdowns.

Wenger`s men were beaten 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in September in one of the few highlights of a miserable campaign for Chelsea, who have since parted company with Mourinho and are now under the interim stewardship of Guus Hiddink heading into Sunday`s clash at the Emirates Stadium.

That loss meant Arsenal have failed to win any of their last eight league meetings with Chelsea dating back to their previous success in October 2011 and, even more remarkably, they have been unable to muster a single goal in the last five of those matches.

Even in the plush surroundings of their own Emirates Stadium, Arsenal have found it impossible to banish the Blues, with no victories in their last five meetings in all competitions since their previous home win against Chelsea in December 2010.

So, although Arsenal sit top of the table while spluttering champions Chelsea are languishing four points above the relegation zone in 14th place, Wenger has suffered enough against the west Londoners to know not to take victory for granted.