Havertz and Odegaard off the mark as Arsenal come from behind to win London Derby
Arsenal's Martin Odegaard celebrates. Pic: John Walton/PA
Mikel Arteta told anxious Arsenal fans to cherish the treasures they already had in their house as they fretted over the lack of attacking signings this summer.
Some must have doubted him when Morgan Rogers, one of the shiny new players they coveted, shot Chelsea in front. The Arsenal manager was ultimately proved right after former Chelsea forward Kai Havertz and unsung club captain Martin Odegaard took control of the game to hit back and then defeat their fierce London rivals.
“We’re going to win the league again with Mikel Arteta,’ they sang at the end.
After two matches with barely a shot to save, David Raya was picking the ball out of the back of his net after just 77 seconds. A Chelsea free kick found its way to Rogers on the edge of the Arsenal area and beat a stranded Arsenal goalkeeper.
The irony that it fell to their main summer transfer target was not lost on the crowd and players alike as he celebrated wholeheartedly in front of the home fans in their cherished North Bank end.
The Chelsea fans, who had been waving inflatable European Cup trophies in an attempt to defuse Arsenal’s Premier League ‘Champions’ celebrations, reacted as if the match was won already. And who can blame them after failing to see their side get a win over their north London rivals in their previous nine matches.
And the goal just kick-started one of the most hectic starts to a match in recent memory.
Arsenal nearly had an equaliser a couple of minutes later as the ball flashed wide from a free kick and was scrambled wide amid a penalty area melee in which former Arsenal keeper Emi Martinez appeared to take a boot to the head from Gabriel.
Then we had Arsenal thinking they had equalised through Riccardo Calafiori only for Gunners debutant Ezri Konsa to be adjudged offside in the build-up.
Chelsea do not mind playing without the ball under Xabi Alonso, but they had no choice as Arsenal pinged the ball through and around them before Martinez again denied his former club with a near-post save from Bukayo Saka.
The action was relentless, and the atmosphere matched it. Chelsea twice had Raya at his best as he had to keep out shots from Cole Palmer and Reece James from distance.
It took a former Blues Brother in Havertz to show their current Chelsea favourites how it is done when he drove in a classy 25th-minute equaliser.
The German striker, who won the Champions League for Chelsea in 2021, cut in from the right and skipped over a couple of challenges before shooting through the legs of Max Lacroix and beyond Martinez at his left post.
Chelsea had been billed as the entertainers, but it was Arsenal playing with more freedom and expression – maybe too frenetic for Arteta’s liking but it made for a great match.
Pedro Neto struck a shot against a post as the first half ended in yet more fouls, scuffles and ill-tempered rows on and off the pitch.
Odegaard got the party restarted in the second half with a superbly taken goal five minutes after the restart. Christos Tzolis cut in from the left and curled in a low pass which Havertz dummied into the path of the Arsenal captain, who finished with a thumping shot.
The cheers were almost as loud when debutant Ezri Konsa executed a perfectly timed ball-winning sliding tackle on Rogers to stop a dangerous break away soon after.
Another moment of genius from Havertz set up a shooting opportunity for Saka, who curled a cracking shot goalward only for Martinez to tip around a post at full stretch.
Alonso had posted four attacking players near the halfway line when defending corners in the first half, but now he was digging in under Arsenal’s pressure and only just surviving Chelsea wanted to come out and play now, but Arteta got his men to try to keep their foot on the gas and press for a third goal. It looked like they would need one as the ball began to flow from end to end after Chelsea stood firm during Arsenal’s pursuit of more.
The tension somehow rose as full-time neared. It was too much for Rogers, who was booked for squaring up to full throttle England team-mate Declan Rice. ‘ You should have signed for a big club’ taunted the Arsenal fans. He was then subbed off for former Arsenal favourite Danny Welbeck.
The save of the day, however, came as Raya tipped over a goal-bound shot from subtitute Estevao.
Three matches in and already one of the games of the season, not that Rogers and co. will be seeing it quite that way for a while.
Raya 6; White 7, Konsa 7, Gabriel 6, Calafiori 7 (Hincapie 67); Rice 7, Lewis-Skelly 7 (Zubimendi 67), Odegaard 8 (Merino 78); Saka 7 (Madueke 90) , Havertz 9 (Gyokores 78), Tzolis 7.
Kepa, Eze, Guimaraes, Dowman.
Martinez 6; Acheampong 5, Fofana 6, Lacroix 5; Neto 7 (Estevao 81), James 8, Lavia 6 Gusto 60), Hato 6 (Chavarria, 60); Palmer 7 (Welbeck 78), Joao Pedro 7, Rogers 6.
Penders, Colwill, Barco, Quenda, Gittens.
C Kavanagh 5.
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