Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif
at Stamford Bridge

ARSENAL came back from two goals down to earn a point after a breathless London derby at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

A first-half penalty by former Manchester City striker Cole Palmer put the Blues 1-0 ahead in front of 39,723 fans as the rain lashed down in SW6.

Worse was to come for Mikel Arteta’s side when Mykhailo Mudryk lifted the ball over the errant David Raya from an acute angle, to double the lead for the home side three minutes after the interval.

As the clock ticked down with Arsenal seemingly having no chance to gain, a foothold in the match, Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez gifted the ball to Declan Rice after a sloppy pass when attempting to play out from the back with only 13 minutes to go.

Showing his quality, England midfielder Rice, whose workmate never dipped throughout, despite a sodden surface, fired the ball into an empty net to make the score 2-1, leading Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino to say after the match: “This goal gave the belief to Arsenal.”

Those in the away end with long memories recalled Nwankwo Kanu’s 15-minute hat-trick to stun Chelsea back in 1999 — along with Nigel Winterburn’s last-minute screamer to clinch a last gasp victory in 1997, both improbable 3-2 comeback victories at the same ground, hopes rose that the visitors could at least grab a point.

And so it was to prove on 84 minutes, when substitute Leandro Trossard slotted home from close range following Bukayo Saka’s perceptive cross into a crowded box.

Cue pandemonium in the away end, as travelling Gooners celebrated wildly with the team, to mark an improbable comeback — given the poor first-half performance by Arteta’s side.

Speaking after the game, Arteta reflected, saying: “I think where it went wrong was at the start of the game, I think we didn’t play with enough purpose with the ball and clarity, we were just moving the ball without really having the intention to threaten them, and that's a really dangerous thing to do against teams like Chelsea.”

The hard-earned point moves Arsenal back into second place — or joint top with Manchester City on 21 points, following City's victory over Brighton at the Etihad earlier in the day.

Next stop, a Champions League trip to Sevilla for Arsenal where they have another league table to climb, following their defeat to Lens last time out.