Leandro Trossard secured a point for Arsenal after his 84th-minute leveller (Picture: AFP)
Arsenal produced a late fightback against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to secure a point and maintain their unbeaten Premier League start.
Cole Palmer opened the scoring in the first-half and Mykhailo Mudryk netted after the break as Chelsea looked on course for all three points but after Declan Rice pulled one back, Leandro Trossard levelled it up with just six minutes left.
The 2-2 draw means that Arsenal are now second in the Premier League, level on points with leaders Manchester City, while Chelsea are ninth in the table.
Mikel Arteta’s team will now turn their attentions to the Champions League as they face Sevilla on Tuesday while Chelsea, who are not in Europe this season after finishing 12th last term, take on Brentford in the top-flight next week.
Chelsea enjoyed a bright start with Ben White forced to block a dangerous-looking shot from Conor Gallagher before Enzo Fernandez blazed an effort over the crossbar, while Palmer also looked an early threat for the west Londoners.
Arsenal fans were then left furious as Palmer escaped a red card for a late tackle on Gabriel Jesus as referee Craig Pawson showed him a yellow card – before Chelsea took the lead from the penalty spot with 15 minutes on the clock.
William Saliba was the player to hand Chelsea a spot kick with VAR deeming he was responsible for a handball offence as Palmer slotted past David Raya. Arsenal seemed to burst into life after going behind – dominating possession with a series of half-chances – but Chelsea remained a bigger threat on the counter-attack.
Palmer was inches away from doubling Chelsea’s lead on the half-hour mark with his shot going narrowly wide following a fast, free-flowing attacking move from the hosts and Gallagher forced a save out of Raya before he was judged offside.
Chelsea fans screamed for a second penalty just before the break as Raheem Sterling went down inside the box but referee Pawson was not convinced, and Raya was tested one last time before the break via a shot from Fernandez.
Arteta decided to swap Oleksandr Zinchenko for Takehiro Tomiyasu at half-time but just three minutes after the restart, Mudryk – trolled by an Arsenal fan in the build-up to the game – made it 2-0 as he attempted a cross from the left, which looped over Raya and into the goal, with the Gunners ‘keeper badly positioned.
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Gabriel Martinelli, who was Arsenal’s hero against City, then saw a shot deflect wide and Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was tested by a looping corner, getting a finger tip on the ball to push it wide, before Gabriel Magalhaes failed to get his header on target from the resulting corner.
Chelsea nearly made it 3-0 on the hour mark after a blunder from Raya gifted possession to Palmer inside the Arsenal penalty area, but he managed to rescue the situation and the Blues had another chance to extend their lead via Levi Colwill but his free header on the edge of the six-yard box went over the crossbar.
Arsenal players then appealed for a penalty for a possible foul on Tomiyasu but referee Pawson was again not convinced before Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson went one-on-one against Raya, with the Senegal international unable to convert.
Palmer saw a curling effort go wide of the far post with 20 minutes of normal time remaining and then, out of nowhere, Rice pulled out back for the visitors after a goalkeeping howler from Sanchez, with his first-time shot from 30 yards nestling into the corner of the net.
Stamford Bridge was then silenced with just six minutes of normal time remaining as Bukayo Saka bent in a cross to the far post, with substitute Trossard getting the finishing touch to level up the match and spark wild scenes in the away end.
Eddie Nketiah was agonisingly close to snatching victory for Arsenal late-on but his shot went just wide as the game ended in a point for both sides.
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Leandro Trossard was Arsenal’s hero!
