Rio Ferdinand criticises Chelsea defence following loss to Arsenal

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has put the boot into Chelsea over their poor defence, letting Arsenal run amok in their backline, which allowed them to score three goals in the first half. The Gunners won the game by keeping a clean sheet at the end of it. Gary Cahill and David Luiz have been severely criticised for their failure to keep the Gunners at bay.

Cahill was solely responsible for the first goal as he tried to pass the ball back to Thibaut Courtois but was picked by Alexis Sanchez, who ran the length of the field before dinking it over the Belgian. The defender conceded a similar goal in their 2-2 draw against Swansea but was unlucky to have not been called for a foul then. However, this was as clean a tackle by Alexis as there has been all game and Ferdinand was quick to berate the defender for his lack of concentration.

"He [Cahill] had this situation last week [against Swansea]," claimed the former Manchester United defender, as quoted by the Mirror. "He said it was a foul, this was nowhere near a foul. Take your time on the ball and I'll take it off you. I'll make sure you get punished."

The Gunners scored a second a few minutes later, with Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi and Hector Bellerin combining for Theo Walcott to score a tap in and pour further misery on the Blues. The third came in another such exquisite move by the Gunners, with Ozil skinning N'Golo Kante in the middle of the park to combine with Alexis. The Chilean took Cahill and Luiz with him before handing the ball on a plate to Ozil, who volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

Former Gunners striker Ian Wright was also appreciative of the Gunners performance saying:"You cannot give Arsenal the kind of space Chelsea have given and not expect to get punished." The Gunners will now face Basel at the Emirates in their second group game of the Champions League.