Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal
Chelsea scorer: Cole Palmer (15’, pen), Mykhailo Mudryk (48’)
Arsenal scorer: Declan Rice (77’), Leandro Trossard (84’)
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
LINE-UPS
Chelsea: Sánchez; Gusto, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Fernández; Sterling (Madueke, 84’), Gallagher, Mudryk (Jackson, 66’); Cole Palmer (James, 84’)
Subs: Petrovic, Maatsen, Disasi, Ugochukwu, Washington, Badiashile
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Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Tomiyasu, 45’); Ødegaard (Havertz, 78’), Jorginho (Smith Rowe, 68’), Rice; Saka, Jesus (Nketiah, 68’), Martinelli (Trossard, 78’)
Subs: Hein, Kiwior, Partey, Nelson
MATCH EVENTS | via ESPN
8’ Cole Palmer (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
11’ Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
13’ VAR Decision: Penalty Chelsea.
15’ Goal! Chelsea 1, Arsenal 0. Cole Palmer (Chelsea) converts the penalty with a left footed shot to the bottom left corner.
44’ Thiago Silva (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
45’+3’ HTChelsea 1, Arsenal 0.
45’ Substitution, Arsenal. Takehiro Tomiyasu replaces Oleksandr Zinchenko.
48’ Goal! Chelsea 2, Arsenal 0. Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea) left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Conor Gallagher.
66’ Substitution, Chelsea. Nicolas Jackson replaces Mykhailo Mudryk.
68’ Substitution, Arsenal. Eddie Nketiah replaces Gabriel Jesus.
68’ Substitution, Arsenal. Emile Smith Rowe replaces Jorginho.
71’ Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
77’ Goal! Chelsea 2, Arsenal 1. Declan Rice (Arsenal) right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner.
78’ Substitution, Arsenal. Leandro Trossard replaces Gabriel Martinelli.
78’ Substitution, Arsenal. Kai Havertz replaces Martin Ødegaard.
84’ Substitution, Chelsea. Reece James replaces Cole Palmer.
84’ Substitution, Chelsea. Noni Madueke replaces Raheem Sterling.
84’ Goal! Chelsea 2, Arsenal 2. Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) right footed shot from the left side of the six yard box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Bukayo Saka with a cross.
89’ Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90+1’ Ben White (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90+8’ FT Chelsea 2, Arsenal 2.
I honestly regarded Raya very highly on the back of his performances last season with Brentford, and was rly happy when we got him in the summer. However, I’m yet to see him be any real upgrade on Ramsdale. I rly hope Mikel is aware of this and do the fair thing aka considering bringing back Ramsdale.
I still don’t think it’s right to say Odegaard always ghosts in big games (based on his performances last season), but now it’s becoming a bit of a concern because we’ve now had several big games this season and Martin has barely had an impact in any of them. He needs to fix up ASAP.
Finally, at the end of the day, results are what count, but I’m getting rly tired of seeing us having unconvincing performances. Mikel has to fix this ASAP, because rly not sure if this is sustainable. At least have a Plan B.
What is taking us forward is plan B - the substitutes. Bench strength as compared to last season is better which is saving us. The first team performance is definitely weaker as compared to last season.