Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: Gunners too strong for work-in-progress Chelsea

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal made it three wins from three so far in the Premier League this season with a 2-1 win over Chelsea yesterday.

Ezri Konsa was the only change from the side that beat Aston Villa on Monday, with Christos Tzolis keeping his place on the left. It’s fair to say we didn’t make the ideal start, Konsa was adjudged to have fouled Joao Pedro in midfield, we didn’t deal with the ball into the box with enough conviction, and when it fell to Morgan Rogers just inside the D, his shot crept inside the near post. It’s one of those where you can’t say David Raya didn’t anything particularly wrong, but also it’s one he probably won’t be happy about conceding.

Obviously you’d prefer not to go behind, but I really liked the way we reacted. There was no feeling sorry for ourselves, it was just about making sure we got ourselves back into it. In the period between their goal and our equaliser, we had 9 shots to their 2, dominated possession and territory, and had a goal disallowed for offside (rightly so, despite the fact it was a bit of a kick in the teeth).

There were moments where I felt we could have done better with the final action, but I enjoyed the football we played, and the way Chelsea found it increasingly difficult to deal with. Martin Odegaard was pulling the strings in midfield, Kai Havertz was really good up front, Ben White and Bukayo Saka were causing them problems down the right, and Tzolis was lively on the other side.

When the equaliser did come in the 25th minute, Saka, White and Rice were all involved, pinging the ball between themselves, until Havertz took it on, drove inside, and fizzed a shot inside the near post. It’s a fine finish, but far more than the opening goal, one where you could ask a question of the goalkeeper. And given that it’s Emi Martinez, a player with some history around these parts, the question might be ‘Why did you look so old and slow when you tried to make the save, you big lump?’.

Havertz loves a goal against Chelsea, and he’s not shy about letting them know that, but of late he just loves a goal against anyone. That crucial strike against Burnley at the end of last season, the Champions League final, the Community Shield, the win over Coventry, and now this crucial one yesterday. So much has been made about how attacking improvement can come from keeping people fit, and he is somebody whose fitness will have a significant impact on our final third potency.

Chelsea did have a couple of moments, a Rogers shot which curled wide, and one from Neto which hit the post just before the break, but for the most part their threat was fleeting and Arsenal looked the stronger side. Then it was about whether we could turn the screw in the second half, and pretty quickly we did exactly that. Konsa was too strong for Rogers, throwing him to the ground like a ragdoll, and while he sat on his arse complaining, Odegaard got things going via Havertz and Calafiori. We worked it over to the left, Tzolis cut inside, played a pass towards Havertz who stepped over it beautifully, allowing the captain to take a touch and finish emphatically beyond Martinez for 2-1. It’s an assist for the new signing, but Kai deserves a chunk of the credit too.

It’s still early days this season, but I think you can see that we’re playing without that crippling pressure that so impacted our football, particularly in the second half of the title winning campaign. There’s just more freedom and panache about our game, and although we didn’t add to the scoreline, you don’t hear people talking about how we don’t score ‘open play’ goals anymore, because that’s what they all are.

Martinez made a very good save to deny Saka after more simple but really effective combination play between Odegaard and Havertz, the Chelsea keeper had to save one on the line from a corner, and when the manager put on Mikel Merino, Viktor Gyokeres, Piero Hincapie and Martin Zubimendi at different stages, we did lose a bit from our game – especially when Havertz and Odegaard were withdrawn.

Then again there’s no better team at grinding out those single-goal margin victories. I thought Merino in particular was really smart, ensuring we kept possession whenever Chelsea tried to work up a head of steam, while David Raya’s brilliant save from Estevao was a key moment in the final stages. Honestly, I thought that was in but his superb touch prevented an equaliser. On top of that though, I thought the assurance of his handling throughout the game was impeccable. From corners and crosses, he was almost always there to pluck the ball out of the air, or to give it a good punch away.

There was a little argy-bargy between Rice and Rogers when the latter took exception to being tripped off the ball as Chelsea came forward. I don’t mind that at all really. It was 100% a cynical foul from Rice, he knew exactly what he was doing, but I think Rogers ire should probably have been directed more towards the referee who, for some reason, didn’t see it. The former Aston Villa man was then on the wrong end of a brilliant Konsa challenge which produced an enormous roar of appreciation from the crowd, after which he had to trudge off around the pitch, serenaded by the Arsenal fans singing ‘You should have signed for a big club’, so a day that started brightly for him ended miserably. Such is football.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta talked about how much he enjoyed the performance and the reaction of his team to going behind:

I thought it was an exceptional performance. I enjoyed every minute from beginning to end. The beginning was tough, but I enjoyed it because the team reacted in a spectacular way. The conviction, determination, quality and intent we showed to help them constantly – it was beautiful. It was a fascinating game I think for the spectator as well, and I think we deserved to win the game which I’m really pleased with, obviously.

And on the players he has available to him:

It’s no question that we have some great players. I believe in them and that they can improve, and they can have another version of themselves that is even better than what we’ve seen. If the team is better and the players are better, everyone will benefit from it, and that’s the objective.

So, three games in, three wins, just one goal conceded, and six scored. When you look at how the fixture list challenged us in the last two games in particular, that’s an impressive return. I would like to see the manager just mix things around a little in midweek for the Champions League, resisting the temptation to just stick with what’s working because this is a long season and we need him to get a tune out of everybody, but that’s something we can discuss later in the week.

Right now, we’re seeing the benefit of having a fully fit Odegaard and Havertz, Saka looks much more like himself than for large parts of last season, Ben White plays an important role in gluing that front three together with his non-stop running, and I thought Konsa had a really solid home debut when we need someone to replace the quality of William Saliba. There’s a lot to like about how we’re doing what we’re doing so far this season, and if Arteta can make things better along the way, we’re going to make life really tough for everyone we face this season.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now, but stand by for an Arsecast Extra. We’ve already put out the call for questions on BlueSky @gunnerblog.bsky.social and @arseblog.com, so fire away using the hashtag #arsecastextra – or if you’re an Arseblog Member on Patreon, leave your question in the #arsecast-extra-questions channel on our Discord server.

The pod should be out mid-morning. Until then, have a good one.

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