Chelsea star takes Premier League record away from Arsenal rival in feisty draw

In partnership with

Evening Standard

·1 December 2025

Chelsea star takes Premier League record away from Arsenal rival in feisty draw

Stamford Bridge battle saw one Blues player reach special milestone, eclipsing Gunners forward in the process

Chelsea star Alejandro Garnacho broke a Premier League record previously set by Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli during a fiery London derby between the two clubs.

OneFootball Videos

Martinelli started Sunday’s high-profile showdown between potential title rivals in the Premier League, playing almost an hour in attack alongside Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino before being replaced after a quiet performance by ex-Blues winger Noni Madueke, who was booed on his first return to Stamford Bridge since leaving in the summer.

Garnacho, meanwhile, was initially named on the Chelsea bench against Arsenal but came on quickly at half-time in place of Estevao Willian, also making a limited impact in a hard-fought 1-1 draw that saw the 10-man hosts surprisingly take the lead through Trevoh Chalobah’s second-half header despite Moises Caicedo’s earlier red card for a dangerous challenge on Merino, who later popped up with the equaliser.

Despite not influencing proceedings too much, it was still a milestone outing for Garnacho, whom Chelsea signed from rivals Manchester United late on during the summer transfer window in a deal worth approximately £40million.

Per Squawka, in coming on against Arsenal, the Argentine attacker became the youngest South American player ever to reach 100 Premier League appearances, completing his century aged just 21 years and 152 days.

That beat the previous mark set by Martinelli by almost a full year, with the Brazilian having set the old record aged 22 years and 125 days.

Next on the list is Tottenham’s Brazilian forward Richarlison, who achieved the feat at 22 years and 303 days. He is followed by Garnacho’s team-mate from Ecuador, Caicedo, who did it aged 23 years and 63 days, and Arsenal and Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus, who was 23 years and 103 days when he reached his century of top-flight appearances in English football when at Manchester City.

Caicedo’s sending off on Sunday was his first for Chelsea in any competition and first in 130 total appearances in the Premier League for both the Blues and Brighton.

Jesus, meanwhile, was an unused substitute at Stamford Bridge as he returned to the Arsenal matchday squad for the first time since January after recovering from surgery on an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered against Manchester United in the FA Cup.