When David Ornstein reported that Chelsea had signed Morgan Rogers for an English record transfer fee, I was literally walking into a movie theatre with some friends to watch The Odyssey. My first thought upon receiving that notification was of course something along the lines of, “What on earth did we do to mess this up? I thought Rogers was for sure joining Arsenal?”
My second thought was, “This guy is definitely scoring against us next season.” As someone who dabbles in it myself, the play was obvious for the cosmic script writers: letting Rogers join their rivals across town would come back to haunt the Gunners at the earliest possible opportunity. And Arsenal Football Club have never been a team with what I’d call reliable plot armor.
So unsurprisingly, the champions’ illustrious defense could not withstand the power of narrative on Sunday. With the right side of their defense comprised of understudies and Chelsea demonstrating a knack for scoring early in games, it naturally follows that in the second minute of the match Rogers volleyed home from just outside the Gunners’ penalty area. After 77 seconds, Arsenal were a goal down.
Against a team managed by Mikel Arteta’s childhood friend Xabi Alonso.
Against a team with seemingly the best counterattacking capabilities in the Premier League.
Against a team with an eye on a dark-horse title challenge due to a lighter schedule than other competitors.
Needless to say, it wasn’t an ideal start to a match billed as an early potential title decider.
But one thing about narratives is that there are very often more than one in play. And here, the competing storyline was that an Arsenal unburdened by their title would feel emboldened to play with the swagger and dominance of champions. So they did.
The Gunners’ response to the Chelsea goal was tremendous. For almost the next hour of the match, Arsenal dominated the visitors. They maintained the lion’s share of possession (pun intended), racked up the chances, and kept the Blues at arm’s length for the most part. They exuded a defiant air that said, “Okay, the gloves are off. And remember, you wanted to do this the hard way.”
Riccardo Calafiori’s knocked the ball into Emiliano Martínez’s net after a set piece scramble, but it was chalked off due to Ezri Konsa being in an offside position when he assisted the Italian. But it served as a warning shot. Sure enough, in the 25th minute Kai Havertz dribbled from the right flank to a central position and fired home clinically. After getting caught off guard, the Gunners were back level.
Five minutes into the second half, Christos Tzolis cut inside from the left flank and drove a pass across the box. Havertz then executed a brilliant dummy before Martin Ødegaard latched onto the ball right in front of Chelsea’s goal before blasting it past a hapless Martínez to give Arsenal the lead. It was almost an exact replica of the third goal the champions scored against Manchester City in the Community Shield.
From there, the Gunners did what they do best. They leveraged outstanding defensive depth to prevent Chelsea from having anything more than a slight sniff of getting back into the game. Arteta’s men closed out the win with the scoreline ultimately proving deceptively flattering for the visitors. Arsenal very clearly deserved all three points.
Although it’s cliché, I’ll say it anyway: this was a performance of champions. Despite a tricky start to proceedings, they refused to let a pack of wannabes step onto their pitch and leave with something. They defended their patch valiantly and convincing, and now are one of only two remaining teams in the English top flight with a perfect record. The title “attack” is off to a good start.
Make no mistake, this Chelsea side are very good. The lack of a midfield will stunt them a bit this season, but they have a highly talented group of young players and one of the best managers in Europe. They will also continue to spend disgusting amounts of money on new recruits, having become more of a player trading firm than a football club. As long as Alonso is there, I think they will continue to improve.
But for now and probably quite some time to come, Arsenal are undeniably the better team.
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Ballers
Martin Ødegaard
I was worried that this would become one of those matches that the opposition kicked Ødegaard. Time and time again Chelsea, a side that has historically lacked discipline and was reportedly instructed by Xabi Alonso to approach Sunday’s match with increased physicality, blatantly fouled the Arsenal skipper. Repeatedly, the Norwegian grabbed at his ankle in pain after those challenges. Last season, a game like this would have seen him subbed off and out injured for a few weeks.
But Ødegaard gutted it out. He showed a touch of that old-school leadership some fans criticize him for not displaying, barking out orders on occasion too. And of course, he displayed that high-level quality on the ball we missed so much last season.
The captain created four chances (including two big chances), the most in the game of any player. Among those were a nice chipped pass that allowed Bukayo Saka to attempt a shot on goal from close range, as well as a clever free kick that maybe should have resulted in a goal for Calafiori. He completed 26 passes in the final third, eight progressive passes, and eight line-breaking passes, all also the most in the match.
But the centerpiece of Ødegaard’s performance is indeed his winning goal. Clearly, it’s a routine that has been rehearsed on the training ground. It was executed to perfection when it most mattered, and the Arsenal skipper capped off the move by ceremoniously cannoning the ball past the opposing keeper. According to James Benge of CBS Sports, the Norwegian already has more shots on target in the box in the Premier League than he did in the entirety of last season’s campaign, and could eclipse his 2025/26 xG next weekend. At three goals on the season already, it appears Ødegaard is locked in.
Kai Havertz
Not to be rude, but it’s getting to a point where the assertion that Havertz isn’t an elite forward simply doesn’t hold water with me anymore. The German has been in impeccable form for the better part of a year now since his return from a string of injuries last season. Entering Sunday’s match, he had begun the new campaign with goals in the Community Shield and in the Premier League opener against Coventry City.
Against Chelsea, Havertz did what he seems to greatly enjoy doing against his former club: scoring daggers (and celebrating them as enthusiastically as we fans do). Midway from the first half, the center forward received the ball on the right flank from Declan Rice. Seemingly inspired, he charged toward the top of the visitor’s box and crisply fired through the legs of a defender and into the bottom corner, beating Martínez at his near post. Out of the blue, Havertz had plucked an equalizer. He now boasts seven goals and two assists in his last 13 games in all competitions for the Gunners.
But it’s not just the goalscoring that makes the German an elite player in my opinion. The thing he offers that truly distinguishes him is his combination and playmaking ability. Havertz used his eight touches in the opposition penalty box (most in the game) to not only take shots, but set up teammates. Twice, he headed corners back across goal. He also attempted a flick to set up an Ødegaard shot when he perhaps should have made an attempt on goal instead. But the two standout moments were a deft touch to set up a threatening shot from Saka and his brilliant dummy for Ødegaard’s winner. Arsenal’s attack is just better when he’s around.
Christos Tzolis
After a rather unsuccessful evening at Aston Villa, Tzolis bounced back impressively against Chelsea. Despite being outperformed by Eze in Birmingham, the Greek got the start on Sunday and repaid Arteta’s faith in him. Facing off against an organized but shaky Blues defense — as opposed to Unai Emery’s effective mid-block — Tzolis continually took advantage and created dangerous moments.
The former Club Brugge man created four chances over the course of the match, the joint-most of any player to feature. For instance, after skillfully bringing down a long switch from Ezri Konsa, Tzolis worked some space deep into the left flank and delivered a clever cutback for Havertz to shoot first-time. He played another ball for Havertz on the break that the German should have converted into another attempt. The Greek also set Myles Lewis-Skelly up for a very nice shooting opportunity at the top of Chelsea’s box, and nicely played in Saka to have a pop at goal as well.
The big moment, obviously, is the Greek’s assist. As he did in Cardiff against City, Tzolis fired a low pass straight across Chelsea’s box, which Havertz dummied for Ødegaard to seize upon and put Arsenal ahead. It goes down as his first Premier League assist and makes for his third of the season in all competitions. Those who went too low on him after last weekend need to be patient.
Ezri Konsa
The new arrival from Villa made his full and home debut for Arsenal on Sunday, effectively baptized in fire considering the potential gravity of this match. But Konsa rose to the occasion and played a large role in the Gunners’ strong defensive showing. Left one-on-one with João Pedro, a player whom even William Saliba has struggled against, the Englishman largely held his own and prevented the Chelsea striker from inflicting any serious damage. Konsa also dispossessed Cole Palmer with ease, and even put in a clattering but fair tackle on Rogers, instantly earning him bags of goodwill with the Emirates crowd.
All in all, Konsa finished with five ground duels won out of seven and three aerial duels won from five attempted. He made three tackles, six clearances, an interception, and five recoveries, without being dribbled past.
On the ball, Konsa also performed admirably. The Gunners’ new no. 15 touched the ball 56 times and completed 95% of his 43 attempted passes. It wasn’t quite a Saliba-esque performance in terms of number of touches and progression of the ball, but Konsa certainly had his moments regarding the latter. I also appreciate his involvement in set pieces. If it weren’t for him being offside, he would have come away from this match with an assist.
Arteta praised it after the match and so will I — it is highly impressive how Konsa has managed to slot into the back line alongside Gabriel and maintain the level. But then again, that’s why Arsenal signed him.
Fallers
Ben White
This is a big win and I don’t want to bring the vibe down all that much, so I’ll keep it to a paragraph for each of the Fallers. Regarding White’ performance, the Arsenal right back was largely fine. But there were several moments throughout the match where the Englishman lost possession rather frustratingly, either attempting a pass that was intercepted or dribbling his way into trouble. And I just think some of those actions really lack the required focus in the moment. The Gunners got away with it this time, but White really needs to be a bit more serious in those situations.
Eberechi Eze
I honestly was surprised not to see Eze start against Chelsea. After Tzolis’ tough go of it at Villa, I really expected Arteta to turn to the more established Arsenal player with left wing experience. But the Englishman did not even leave the bench on Sunday. I have a hunch Eze will start at Napoli but the Greek getting the nod in such an important match feels indicative of the current pecking order at that position. And considering Ødegaard’s resurgent form, Lewis-Skelly’s recent starts in midfield, the return of Mikel Merino, and the arrival of Bruno Guimarães, it’s hard to see Eze getting many minutes in the center of the pitch. The most celebrated signing of last summer has a lot of work to do.
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