Arsenal produced one of their quintessential late comebacks to hold London rivals Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
Cole Palmer’s penalty and Mykhaylo Mudryk’s freak finish would seemingly propel the Blues to a deserved victory against their toothless opponents, but late efforts from Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard ensured that Arsenal would travel home with their unbeaten top-flight record – somehow – still intact.
Gooners rejoiced when Bukayo Saka and William Saliba were present in the first XI following their recent niggles, while Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli joined the former in a formidable front three.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men were outfought and outclassed in the first 45 minutes, where Chelsea’s aggressive and effective pressing suffocated the Gunners and forced them into a wealth of early errors.
With 15 minutes gone, Raheem Sterling sent in a cross destined for the head of Mudryk, but the outstretched arm of Saliba – who was jumping to challenge the Ukrainian – denied the Chelsea man as the Blues screamed for a penalty.
Referee Chris Kavanagh obliged following a check of the monitor, and Palmer coolly sent David Raya the wrong way to break Arsenal’s 100% away defensive record on the road in the Premier League season, and deservedly so.
Arsenal’s front three were being comfortably quelled by the Blues backline – Saka in particular got no change out of Marc Cucurella – and Palmer was agonisingly close to doubling his tally on the half-hour mark, as Conor Gallagher drove through Arsenal’s exposed midfield and laid off his teammate, who tried to pick out the far corner but fired an inch wide of the post.
Takehiro Tomiyasu was introduced for the booked Oleksandr Zinchenko at the break, but the Japan international could only stand and watch alongside the rest of his teammates as an old flame doubled the hosts’ lead in the 48th minute.
After the Gunners lost the ball inside the Chelsea half, Mauricio Pochettino’s men broke forward through former Arsenal target Mudryk, who was not closed down by the Gunners and made them pay with an unexpected cross-cum-shot which nestled into the side of the net.
Raya was caught in no man’s land as he fruitlessly flapped at Mudryk’s attempt, and the Brentford loanee’s evening very nearly got all the more embarrassing in the 57th minute as he passed straight to Palmer inside his own box, but he did just about enough to put the Englishman off.
In contrast, Raya’s opposite number Robert Sanchez had little to do at the other end, but the Spaniard had clearly taken a leaf out of his counterpart’s book of errors as he gifted Arsenal a route back into the game.
With 76 minutes gone, Sanchez’s pass out from the back was cut out by ex-Blues protege Rice, who unleashed a brilliant first-time strike into the bottom corner of an empty Chelsea net to give the Gunners an unexpected slice of hope.
That slice of hope was soon transformed into scenes of ecstasy in the away end, as only nine minutes after Rice’s effort, Saka sent in a sumptuous cross to the back post, where Trossard made a darting run beyond Malo Gusto and poked home to draw the visitors level.
A seven-minute added time period was not enough for either side to find a winner, as Arsenal departed sitting second in the Premier League table behind Manchester City, while the Blues have risen to ninth place.
Arteta’s side now gear up for a Champions League trip to Sevilla on Tuesday, while the Blues have a week to recover before a West London derby with Brentford next Saturday.
