Three positives and negatives from Arsenal's 2-1 win against Chelsea

Arsenal faced a big test of their title resolve from Chelsea and they responded to it in the manner of champions.

The first question was on how to respond to setbacks, such as the one dealt by Morgan Rogers after 77 seconds. Answer? In style. The Gunners piled on immediate pressure which soon earned them an equaliser.

Next: how do you stop free-scoring Chelsea when you are chasing a game? This time the reply was to play football the Arsenal way; bar a fine effort from Willian Estevao late on, the Blues did not frighten David Raya in goal.

Now, the rest of the Premier League will field a question of their own: Arsenal are back (joint) top of the table, so how are you going to stop them? Chelsea have blinked already, does anyone else have what it takes?

Here are three positives and three negatives from an important and entertaining 2-1 Arsenal win at Emirates Stadium.  

There was a sense of shock when Arsenal – yet to be breached this campaign – fell behind after just 77 seconds.

Morgan Rogers’ volley put the visitors in front and it meant that the typically cautious Gunners would need to come out fighting from the off, a tricky proposition given the ever-present threat of Chelsea’s frontline pace.

But the home team just oozed self-assurance. Soon, they had the Blues pinned back in their own half, dealing them quite the scare via Riccardo Calafiori’s disallowed strike before Havertz fizzed a strike by Emiliano Martinez at his near post.

Their reaction bore a touch of the belief and freedom which must come from shaking off bridesmaid status. If this is a sign of what fans can expect in 2026/27, then Arsenal are going to be a lot more fun to watch this season.   

Many have crossed the Arsenal/Chelsea divide in recent years. If Mikel Arteta had got his way, Pedro Neto might have done so too.

Though the Blues are rich in offensive talent, the Portuguese star stood out as their main transitional outlet. He led the charge from several counter attacks and forced Christos Tzolis to tuck back in deep to help out defensively.

And he almost earned the ultimate reward just before half time when his shot, thankfully, struck the base of the far post.

Neto proved a tricky customer for an Arsenal backline that has dealt well with forwards over the first fortnight of this campaign. They just about did enough to come out best here, but they will not want to see him again anytime soon.  

Martin Odegaard looked far off the pace last season as injuries and a lack of match fitness took their toll on him.

But he has seemed sharp in the early stages of 2026/27, perhaps saving his best for this huge London derby. As at Villa Park, the captain knitted things together alongside both Bukayo Saka and Ben White down the right flank, forming the main creative hub for the Gunners in their quest to fight back after the Rogers opener.

He also did the important bit himself by scoring the winner, showing an emphatic touch one does not typically associate with him.

Big-name midfield acquisitions have posed a threat to his status as the heartbeat of this Arsenal side, but Odegaard has responded in style.

One of the biggest gripes from last season was the do-or-die nature of each match, not helped by the narrow margins of victory.

Early signs are that Arsenal are yet to fix it.

Yes, they levelled things up quite fast and wasted no time in making it 2-1 in the second half. But with the visitors needing to go for it (and being defensively suspect anyway) one may expect Arteta’s men to find gaps at the other end.

Yet it was something they could not manage. Tzolis, who had a great game, failed to get the final pass right on occasion, while Viktor Gyokeres was guilty of fouling the defender despite having him exactly where he wanted him.

It all meant that a third goal never came and fans were left watching anxiously right up until the final whistle. Three points are all that matter of course, but the boss will surely hope to avoid going to the wire so often again like last term.

Arsenal are so often lauded for their collective strength but, on Sunday, it was individual talent which won it for them.

There are examples sprinkled throughout the team: David Raya was immense in commanding his box and Ezri Konsa produced a robust recovery challenge to thwart Rogers. Gabriel also did well with his diving header at the end to stop Reece James.

But the best moment came from Havertz; it was his delightful dummy that let the ball roll through to Odegaard to smash home.

In what proved a tough match for the collective, Arsenal found a way to win that came rooted in the star quality of their exceptional individual names. Featuring old and new faces alike, Arteta will surely be chuffed.

This feels like a weird thing to say as, in truth, you would not really argue that any Arsenal midfielder had a bad game.

Yet the Gunners still toiled in midfield.

Fans are accustomed to watching the boss bring on reinforcements to steer the match to a controlled finish. For his part, Arteta delivered on that as Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino both came on for the final 15 minutes.

But the Chelsea ended the match on top, with Arsenal finding it tough to keep the ball at a key point in proceedings. It worked to great effect against Aston Villa when Merino and Bruno Guimaraes came on, yet not so much here.

Perhaps credit goes to Chelsea for their fighting spirit, but it might offer Arteta food for thought that his tried-and-tested formula came up short.

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