On paper Chelsea ’ s team sheet looked like an insult , one for the anti-football brigade to get their beaks into after Jose Mourinho went without an orthodox striker . When reality bites , even his biggest detractors must concede that Mourinho ’ s decision to leave Didier Drogba on the bench until the start of the second half was another tactical masterclass . Chelsea ’ s manager is staying true to the game — his game — because the end result will be a fourth Barclays Premier League title for this football club . Chelsea 's Jose Mourinho gestures on the sideline after going into the game against Arsenal without a striker . Oscar was part of a front three who interchanged roles during the first half to great effect for their boss . At times you are left wondering what Eden Hazard , Willian and Oscar make of it all when Mourinho starts working on team shape six days before a clash with Arsenal . This trio have an element of fantasy about their game , with those delightful touches around the corner and the clever wall passes that they can play at will . The master simply wants results . To start without a striker , to ignore the collective groans around the country by starting Willian in a deeply withdrawn role behind Hazard and Oscar , was a statement of intent . Mourinho was forced into it , of sorts , because he has been deprived of Diego Costa and Loic Remy in recent weeks , and his warrior Drogba could not train all week . Even so , you would not put it past Mourinho — who pulled a similar stunt by playing Andre Schurrle as a false nine at Manchester United last season — to have done it anyway . When it comes to work-rate , discipline and desire , no-one can accuse these players of cheating . Everyone has a job to do in this team . Chelsea mastermind Mourinho surveys the pitch before kick-off having plotted out his game plans . Eden Hazard leads a trio with Willian and Oscar that has fantasy about their play but Mourinho wants function . Strikers Loic Remy ( left ) and Diego Costa are both working their way back to fitness with leg injuries . To watch Hazard , the PFA player of the year , Oscar and Willian sacrifice their A-game for the greater good of the team demonstrates a unique commitment to Mourinho ’ s methods . They have bought in . What happened to the style , the swagger and the pomp about the team who won so handsomely at Swansea , putting five past Garry Monk ’ s side without reply at the Liberty Stadium on January 17 ? They traded it for Mourinho ’ s tactics , using the extra time during the week following their Champions League elimination against Paris Saint-Germain for match-specific preparation . With only one game a week since Chelsea went out on away goals on March 11 , Mourinho has used the time on the training field to prepare for Premier League matches as a one-off . But Didier Drogba was available to Mourinho and he only used the Ivorian when Oscar went off injured . There is no question who had the upper hand in the managerial tactical battle , and it was n't Wenger . Willian was exceptional for his manager , pestering the Arsenal midfield when the Blues were without the ball . Ramires comes close after a ball into the box from Willian but is thwarted by Arsenal keeper David Ospina . Against Manchester United he deliberately conceded possession , suffocating Marouane Fellaini and waited to hit Louis van Gaal ’ s team on the break . They won 1-0 , even if it was far from pretty . Here at the Emirates , against a team with eight successive wins in the Premier League , he bewildered their defence by allowing his front three to rotate . Willian was exceptional as he flitted across Arsenal ’ s back line and pestered Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin when he wanted to win back the ball . The Brazilian forward engineered Chelsea ’ s best chance , a clever angled ball in the first half that found the feet of Ramires running into the box . Arsenal keeper David Ospina saved well . This was perfectly disciplined , if uncomfortable to watch at times as Mourinho looked on approvingly from the sidelines . When he was forced into a change at the break because Oscar had been ferried to hospital with suspected concussion following his collision with Ospina , he turned to the experience of Drogba . Oscar soars high in pursuit of the ball as Ospina comes out quickly to intercept . The pair clashed with Ospina considered lucky to be on the pitch after viewing the replays . Oscar was substituted at half-time having not recovered from the blow with Ospina . At the age of 37 he served his team-mates well in the second half , chasing 60 yards towards his own goal at one point to stop the forward run of Nacho Monreal down the left . Towards the end of the second half , as this game gravitated towards its inevitable conclusion , Chelsea relied on their captain John Terry ’ s leadership skills to see it home . A year ago this team was experimental , with various formations on trial as Mourinho assembled his next title-winning team . Here at the Emirates , it has finally taken shape .
Chelsea played out a 0-0 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday . Jose Mourinho started with no striker despite having Didier Drogba . His tactics were not pretty but of deserving Premier League champions . The Blues have won their last three games and are top of Group H after beating Manchester City 2-0 in midweek.