_The Blues_ went ahead in the second minute of the London derby with **Morgan Rogers** striking a volley into the bottom-left corner. For a minute there, **Chelsea** looked like they were at the **Emirates Stadium** to win.
The visitors remained on the back foot and finally conceded a well-placed goal from **Kai Havertz** in the **25th minute**.
_The Gunners_ dominated for most of the first half even though Chelsea came close to going ahead with **Pedro Neto** striking the post.
Ødegaard's second-half strike
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Barely after returning from the halftime break, Chelsea conceded a second and went behind through a [well-worked finish by **Arsenal**'s captain](https://www.vavel.com/en/football/2026/09/06/arsenal/1270435-odegaard-hails-havertz-after-display-against-chelsea.html), **Martin Ødegaard**.
**David Raya** also denied **Estêvão** through a spectacular save late on.
Xabi Alonso shares his thoughts on his team's performance
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Despite the loss, the Chelsea head coach insisted he was proud of the players' battling qualities.
A reporter asked **Alonso** what he thought of the performance today.
He replied: "It has been a game with different momentums, different stages. We started the game well, scoring first. The next 15 minutes, they were pushing us hard."
"We were defending low and struggled to get a little bit more, having the ball to be able to play a little bit more on the pitch."
"So, yeah, those 15 minutes were hard and we had to suffer. Once we have conceded the goal, I think that the game came back to the even level from them, from us."
"We have had a couple of good chances before the end of the first half, but at half-time we spoke; it was a very close game, very intense, when we had to have a really high level of concentration, not to give many advantages to them, to be in the game, to be fighting for it."
"They push you to the limits"
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"And for sure, the second goal, we could have done a little bit better. It's part of the game you need to accept, because they are top side and they push you to the limits."
"They overload a lot on the left side with many players. And after that run from Ødegaard, but we have kept going."
"The team showed really good desire and good spirit to fight till the end. We were close with a chance from **Estêvão** \[Willian\], so it's a defeat."