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Gallas downs his old club

Gallas downs his old club


Gallas downs his old club

William Gallas downed his old club Chelsea as Arsenal defeated Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates in a hotly contested game. John Terry limped off halfway through, but the Frenchman came to rescue Arsenal in first half injury time.

The French defender headed home shortly before the halftime whistle to send the home fans into ecstasy.

Arsenal are in charge of the table with 40 points, just one ahead of second-placed Manchester United, who edged past Liverpool 1-0 earlier on Sunday.

Chelsea's Brazilian defender Alex almost scored into his own net after 12 minutes when he back-headed a long ball towards Petr Cech.

The ball evaded the Czech Republic keeper and went just wide of the post.

Two minutes later, Chelsea launched a quick counter attack and Shaun Wright-Philips drove a shot from the edge of the area but Manuel Almunia, with a showy dive, saved it.

Chances were few and far between in the first-half, which witnessed confrontations between players from both sides.

Chelsea skipper John Terry was booked in the 29th minute for a tough tackle on Cesc Fabregas.

His teammate Frank Lampard also received a yellow card for being involved in the melee that occurred following Terry's challenge.

Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue made a rash challenge on Terry in the 38th minute. The England defender couldn't resume the match and was replaced by Israeli Ben Haim profile" alt="Tal Ben Haim profile">Tal Ben Haim.

Gallas put The Gunners ahead in the first-half's additional time, capitalizing on a dreadful marking by Ben Haim and an error from Cech.

A mis-timed jump by Cech couldn't help him grasp a corner and Gallas pounced to head into an empty net, under no pressure from Ben Haim.

Arsenal could have extended their lead on several occasions in the second period but squandered easy opportunities.

On the other hand, Chelsea were also close to leveling the score.

In the 75th minute, Wright-Philips was picked out unmarked in the six-yard box but blasted poorly wide with the goal at his mercy.

Two minutes later, Dutch striker Robin van Persie should have scored when he connected with Alexander Hleb's low cross but his effort flew high over.

Arsenal had two goals late in the game from Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor ruled out for offside and foul respectively.