Rio Ferdinand hailed Arsenal after they beat Chelsea saying they “made it look as easy as you can make it.”
Arsenal went into the game against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with many still questioning if they are ‘the real deal’. Although they had already beaten Tottenham and Liverpool, those wins didn’t count as they were at the Emirates.
This was to be the litmus test of Arsenal’s title credentials and it was one they sailed through.
“Are this team the real deal?” Ferdinand asked on BT Sport after the final whistle before answering his own question. “There’s something there, togetherness, you can smell it in this team.
“The way they celebrate. There’s an authority of how Arsenal are playing under this man Mikel Arteta.
“How many times did we look at each other when a phase of play happened and it was all because of the way that Arsenal were making them moves on the pitch. A real top performance.
“These types of games are hard and they made it look as easy as you can make it.”
While Chelsea have certainly looked far from their best this season, there is no denying the size of the statement Arsenal made on the Stamford Bridge pitch, even if wayward finishing ensured the score stayed respectable for the hosts.
So dominant were Arsenal that even Mikel Arteta allowed himself to admit publicly that Arsenal are in the title race after he guided his side to their third successive win at Chelsea.
Asked by reporters if he was thinking about the title now, Arteta replied, “Do something…(for me). Just look at the last six years what Manchester City has done.
“With the best manager in the world, with the best team in the world. They have shown it consistently in every single competition.
“We have to be very very respectful of that.
“We are getting much better as team, we are competing much better.
“We are getting really good results right now, but this is a long, long journey.”
But does that mean Arsenal are in contention for the Premier League? “We are today. I think football today, and tomorrow is very different.
“So let’s enjoy tonight.”