Arsenal fought back from an early goal to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, maintaining their perfect start to the Premier League season and moving level on nine points with Manchester City.
Chelsea stunned the home crowd after only 77 seconds when Morgan Rogers fired a right-footed volley past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. But Kai Havertz equalised before captain Martin Ødegaard completed the comeback for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Rogers’ early strike sent shockwaves through the Emirates as Raya was left with little chance of stopping the powerful effort.
Arsenal thought they had restored parity shortly afterwards when Calafiori found the net, but VAR ruled that Ezri Konsa, whose effort had come off the post, was offside.
The hosts eventually got their equaliser in the 25th minute.
Former Chelsea forward Havertz cut in from the right before sending a low left-footed shot beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Martinez.
Arsenal returned from the break with greater purpose and took the lead shortly afterwards.
New signing Christos Tzolis’ ball was dummied by Havertz, allowing Ødegaard to unleash a powerful effort high into the net.
Chelsea refused to surrender and mounted sustained pressure in search of an equaliser.
Arsenal goalkeeper Raya was forced into a brilliant save to deny Chelsea winger Estevao as the visitors pushed for a way back into the contest.
Chelsea manager, Xabi Alonso, admitted afterwards that Arsenal had proved difficult to break down.
“They are hard to beat, they are hard to create chances against, but we had three or four chances to score more than one goal,” Alonso said.
“This is a process. It’s still early days for us.
“Not happy that we couldn’t get anything but we need to keep calm and carry on,” he added.
Ødegaard said the victory reflected Arsenal’s determination to fight until the final whistle.
“It was a big game, massive game, tough opponent and we got there in the end, so brilliant,” the Arsenal captain said.
“Our mentality is to keep fighting. We have shown that many times. We never want to concede early but the reaction is top,” he added.
The victory leaves Arsenal level with Manchester City on nine points after three matches, while Chelsea remain on six points from the same number of games.
