Arsenal continued their perfect start to the Premier League season after coming from behind to secure a dramatic 2–1 victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium, preserving the defending champions’ 100% record and inflicting Xabi Alonso’s first defeat since taking charge of the Blues.
Both sides entered the derby with 6 points from their opening two matches, but Chelsea stunned the home crowd after just 77 seconds when Morgan Rogers seized upon a cleared free-kick to fire a powerful edge-of-the-box strike past David Raya.
Arsenal responded swiftly. Riccardo Calafiori saw a 12th-minute goal disallowed for offside following a VAR review, before Emiliano Martínez denied Bukayo Saka’s dangerous effort amid sustained pressure from Mikel Arteta’s side.
Kai Havertz restored parity in the 25th minute with a low drive from outside the penalty area, marking his fourth goal in Arsenal colors against his former club. Chelsea came close to retaking the lead, but Rogers sent a shot narrowly wide, while Pedro Neto struck the post prior to the halftime interval.
Five minutes into the second half, Martin Ødegaard completed Arsenal’s comeback, capitalizing on a pass from Christos Tzolis and a clever dummy from Havertz. Raya subsequently preserved the victory with a brilliant late save to deny Estêvão in the 89th minute, after Martínez had kept Chelsea in the contest with double saves against Saka and Ezri Konsa.
Match statistics underlined Arsenal’s dominance, holding 58% possession to Chelsea’s 42%, while outshooting the visitors 14 to 9 and leading opposition-box touches 35 to 16. The Gunners extended their unbeaten streak against Chelsea to 11 consecutive matches across all competitions, whereas the Blues have now conceded at least twice in each of their opening three league fixtures.
Arsenal raised their tally to 9 points from three wins, joining Manchester City at the top of the table with 6 goals scored and 1 conceded. Chelsea remain on 6 points and dropped to fifth place, trailing Manchester United on goal difference.
