Before round 9 of the Premier League, Arsenal was 9 places above Chelsea in the rankings. However, in the confrontation at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea was the better team. Arsenal had to work very hard to get a point when they were 2 goals behind.
William Saliba's timely recovery from injury to play helped Arsenal fans feel more secure. However, it was the French centre-back's moment of carelessness that caused the visitors to have trouble.
After consulting VAR and reviewing the video, the referee determined that Saliba had committed a handball in the penalty area. Cole Palmer successfully converted the penalty to give Chelsea the lead in the 15th minute.
Chelsea played better than Arsenal for most of the match. (Photo: Getty Images)
The goal was the fulcrum for Chelsea to actively play defensive counter-attack. The home team was much more effective than their opponents.
Arsenal's possession rate in the first half (according to Whoscored data) was up to 60%. However, their attack was deadlocked when Gabriel Jesus played poorly. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were tightly marked by Chelsea defenders.
The visitors did not create any dangerous chances. Meanwhile, Chelsea had many counter-attacks that made the opponent's defense struggle. Raheem Sterling, Mykhailo Mudryk and Conor Gallagher were always ready to attack the space in the front line after their teammates won the ball.
The game did not change much in the second half. Arsenal continued to attack in a deadlock and made many technical errors leading to loss of the ball. From such a situation, Chelsea scored the second goal.
Chelsea led 2-0 but still dropped the victory.
After an Arsenal player missed the ball, the home team quickly counterattacked. Mudryk's cross was misplaced but the ball went over the visitors' goalkeeper's hands and straight into the goal. Chelsea had a lucky goal.
Arsenal's attack was ineffective and coach Arteta had no plan to make any positive changes. The away team continued to be deadlocked and individual errors continued to appear.
In difficult circumstances, Arsenal unexpectedly scored a goal thanks to a mistake by their opponents. Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez made a bad pass. Declan Rice seized the opportunity to shoot from a distance to shorten the score. Immediately after the goal, Arsenal brought Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard onto the field to increase their attack. One of the two substitutions helped the away team equalize in the 84th minute.
Saka was absent for most of the match, but in a rare moment free from Marc Cucurella's marking, Arsenal's No. 7 immediately made his mark. Saka's cross eliminated all Chelsea defenders. Trossard quickly rushed forward to finish from a tight angle to equalize for the visitors.
This moment made the final minutes of the match more exciting. Both Chelsea and Arsenal showed their determination to score to win 3 points. However, the audience did not witness any more goals.
Result: Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal
Score
Chelsea: Palmer (15'), Mudryk (48')
Arsenal: Rice (77'), Trossard (84')
Chelsea vs Arsenal lineup
Chelsea: Robert Sanchez (1), Marc Cucurella (3), Levi Colwill (26), Thiago Silva (6), Malo Gusto (27), Enzo Fernandez (8), Moises Caicedo (25), Conor Gallagher (23), Raheem Sterling (7), Mykhailo Mudryk (10), Cole Palmer (20)
Arsenal: David Raya (22), Oleksandr Zinchenko (35), Gabriel Magalhaes (6), William Saliba (2), Ben White (4), Declan Rice (41), Jorginho (20), Martin Odegaard (20), Gabriel Martinelli (11), Gabriel Jesus (9), Bukayo Saka (7).
Minh Anh
Source
Comment (0)