Arsenal proved their point against Chelsea after showing bottle and brilliance
Arsenal proved once again that they are the real deal.
After the momentous victory over Manchester City last time out, Mikel Arteta’s men followed it up with a performance of sheer guts to grab a share of the glory at Stamford Bridge.
Two goals down and staring down the barrel of a first Premier League defeat of the season with just 13 minutes left, the Gunners dredged deep to conjure up a stunning fightback that realised a point - and could have brought even more.
First Declan Rice showed that he is much more than a £105 million spoiler by capitalising on a terrible clearance by Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez to fire into an empty net.
Then, seven minutes later, Leandro Trossard smuggled himself clear at the far post to nudge home Bukayo Saka’s teasing cross with his first touch of the ball after coming on as a substitute.
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Arsenal could have even won it. Moments later, Eddie Nketiah burst clear to nudge a bobbling shot inches wide of the far post. Arteta was so sure it was in that he was already celebrating on the touchline.
Did Arsenal deserve it? Probably not. But winning titles is as much about bottle as brilliance - and Arteta’s men have bucketloads of both qualities.
They looked dead and buried when David Raya’s shocking mistake allowed Mykhailo Mudryk to put Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues two goals up at the start of the second half. The Spaniard was hopelessly out of position and could do nothing as Mudryk’s hit-and-hope effort sailed over his head at the near post and found the far corner.
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Arsenal fought back to overhaul a two-goal deficit against Chelsea on Saturday night (JAMES WHITEHEAD/PPAUK/REX/Shutterstock)Arteta had opted for Raya again after giving Aaron Ramsdale compassionate leave to be at the birth of his son. Mother and baby are doing well, apparently. Not so Raya. He will be grateful that his team-mates dug deep to get him off the hook.
Chelsea also got a break when Cole Palmer fired them ahead from the penalty spot in the 15th minute. It’s instinctive for William Saliba to try to win defensive headers. It’s been in his DNA for most of his 22 years. So when Mudryk got ahead of him to get the slightest of flicks to Sterling’s cross, the Arsenal centre-back was only doing what comes naturally.
Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the ball struck his flailing arm. Accidental? Absolutely. But Saliba knew what the outcome was going to be as soon as referee Chris Kavanagh was invited to take another look on the pitch-side monitor.
Sure enough, up stepped Palmer to bury the ball in one corner with Sanchez plunging the opposite way. By this stage the home side were swarming all over the Gunners with energy and menace.
Pochettino had decided the best way to attack was without a centre-forward - although Palmer did sometimes operate as a deep-lying striker during his formative years at Manchester City. That enabled his five-man midfield to close any gaps either down the flank or through the middle. And until that late drama, Arsenal struggled to find an answer.
Pochettino will be devastated that his men didn’t see the game out to claim a fourth successive victory. This was arguably the best performance of the Argentine’s reign, but it shows how far they still have to go that they couldn’t keep the Gunners at bay when the pressure was on.
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The fact that he is still to lose a home game to Arsenal will count for little. Chelsea’s limp start to the season has been bad enough. But to see London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal slugging it out at the top of the table has added seriously to the pain.
Arsenal were there for the taking. But the best teams find a way. And once again the Gunners had the answer.
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