Five Things Learned From Chelsea's 2-1 Premier League Defeat To Arsenal | OneFootball

Chelsea suffered a 2-1 away Premier League defeat against Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon despite an early lead in the game.

As in the first two league games, Chelsea had such a promising start to the match. This time, it was club-record signing Morgan Rogers who gave the visitors an early lead in north London.

Joao Pedro did really well to win a header in the box from a deep Reece James free-kick. Declan Rice could not clear it well enough, as the ball went to Jorrel Hato, who nodded it to Rogers on the edge of the box. Rogers did really well to steer the ball to the bottom left corner with a volley, beating David Raya two minutes into the game.

Arsenal conceded a goal for the first time this season, and Chelsea had the perfect start they hoped for.

Unfortunately, just like in the first two league games, an early lead was never safe with Chelsea’s shaky defence.

It did not take long for the hosts to level the score.

Riccardo Calafiori had a goal ruled out for offside in the 12th minute, but Arsenal found their equaliser in the 25th minute. Former Blue Kai Havertz drifted to the right to find space and found it. He drove inside with the ball onto his left foot before striking a low effort that somehow sneaked past Emiliano Martinez.

Chelsea were close to retaking the lead just before half-time through Pedro Neto’s solo effort, but his shot bounced away off the base of the far post.

Then disaster struck for Chelsea early in the second half.

A brilliant play from Havertz, letting  Christos Tzolis’ pass run through for Martin Odegaard, who found space in Chelsea’s penalty box. There was nothing Martinez could do from such a close range, and the Norway international gave Arsenal the lead five minutes into the second half.

Chelsea tried to push for a second goal by introducing more attackers such as Estevao Willian and Danny Welbeck, but to no avail. Arsenal kept their perfect record, while Chelsea suffered their first defeat this season.

Here are five takeaways from Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.

Defending deep gave Chelsea opportunities to catch Arsenal on the counter-attack, but as expected, it also invited a lot of pressure.

Arsenal created four big chances in the game, while Chelsea had none. The former also led in terms of touches in the opposition box (45) compared to the latter (25).

Xabi Alonso said he would decide whether Caicedo would be available on Saturday, and since the midfielder did not even make the squad, it was clear that he was not ready to return after an injury setback.

Alonso opted for a double pivot of Reece James and Romeo Lavia instead.

However, in the 60th minute, Malo Gusto came on to replace Lavia, which meant Chelsea had two right-backs in midfield. Alonso had Valentin Barco as an option as well, but Gusto was likely chosen to provide better cover for Pedro Neto at right wing-back.

The reason why Alonso wanted to give Neto more freedom on the right is that most of Chelsea’s attacks came from this area.

The Portugal international created two chances, joint-most for Chelsea alongside Joao Pedro, before being replaced by Estevao in the 81st minute.

Estevao’s introduction as a right wing-back also showed how desperate Chelsea were to find an equaliser. Gusto’s substitution made even more sense.

The Blues have failed to keep a clean sheet in their three Premier League games so far this season. In this period, they have conceded seven goals in total.

At times, there were gaps between the back five, who were clearly instructed to stay low, and the midfield that tried to recover the ball by pressing.

Arsenal forwards’ movements also stretched Chelsea’s three centre-backs quite effectively, especially Havertz, who thrived when roaming.

With this defeat, Chelsea have failed to beat Arsenal in their last 12 encounters, including nine losses in this period.

This is obviously something that Chelsea have to address if they are to compete for the Premier League title in the future. The Blues will have their chance for revenge at Stamford Bridge in March next year.