Chelsea's Win Bonus

Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the final of the Carling Cup brought them an unexpected bonus. In addition to winning the trophy they had the incalculable benefit of a comprehensive lesson in how to play football, courtesy of the Gunners’ young team.

For around an hour Arsenal tore Chelsea apart, with a quality of football so breathtakingly brilliant that is almost unimaginable coming from players so young, and nowhere was this superiority more evident than in midfield, where Lampard and Ballack in particular, who are reputed to be world class, seemed to be wading through treacle. And remarkably, the average age of their tormentors – Walcott 17, Fabregas 19, Denilson 19 and Diaby 20 – was a fraction below 19.

Few would have contemplated a Chelsea win after Theo Walcott’s stunning goal had given Arsenal the lead, so how on earth did Mourinho’s team manage it? Apart from the Gunners’ failure to capitalise on the chances they created with the four goal half-time lead which they richly deserved, there were five reasons. The brilliance of Petr Cech in goal. The superb quality of Drogba’s finishing. The contribution of second half substitute Arjen Robben. The incompetence of the linesman who allowed Drogba’s offside ‘goal’ and later penalised Adebayor when he was through in an onside position. And the blue rinsed benevolence of referee Howard Webb, who smiled on Chelsea throughout – turning a blind eye to Carvalho’s foul on Baptista in the box, declining to red card Essien for a horrific challenge on Baptista, allowing two blatant body checks by Diarra to amount to just one yellow card and permitting Lampard to lend his considerable weight to the melee at the end and escape with a similar punishment.

So ultimately Chelsea, the team which Abramovic bought, were able to triumph over the superior football of Arsenal, the team Arsene Wenger built. The men of Mourinho’s present got a cup and a football lesson. Arsene’s boys should be consoled by the fact that, thanks to them and their manager the club has something much more significant than a trophy - a magnificent future and the admiration of many millions of football lovers within, and far beyond, North London.