Arsenal Wins the London Derby
In a clash between two teams that emerged victorious from the first two matchdays, defending champions Arsenal settled their derby against neighbors and visitors Chelsea, overturning a deficit to secure a 2-1 win in the English Premier League on Saturday. By confirming their superiority over a rival that has not beaten the Gunners in 12 consecutive matches across all competitions since their 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on August 22, 2021, in the Premier League, Arsenal and their runners-up Manchester City remain the only two teams with a perfect record this season.
Manager Mikel Arteta’s side prepared for their UEFA Champions League campaign in the best possible manner, as they travel to face Italian side Napoli tomorrow. Meanwhile, Chelsea suffered their first defeat under their new Spanish manager, Xabi Alonso.
Chelsea started ideally, with new signing Morgan Rogers giving them the lead in the second minute following a free-kick that caused confusion in the Gunners’ penalty area. The ball reached the former Aston Villa player, who struck it powerfully from distance into the right side of Spanish goalkeeper David Raya’s net.
Arsenal thought they had equalized through another free-kick taken by Italian Riccardo Calafiori, but VAR intervened and disallowed the goal after it was determined that Konsa was offside (12th minute). After a long-range effort from Reece James, Raya shone by making a save (23rd minute). Arsenal responded by leveling the score in the 25th minute through German Kai Havertz, who cut in from the right before firing a low shot from the edge of the box into the net.
With the second half underway, Arsenal took the lead through Norwegian Martin Ødegaard following a team move and a series of passes. The final pass came from Greek Christos Tzolis from the left to Havertz, who cleverly laid it off to Ødegaard. The Norwegian advanced into the penalty area before slotting the ball into the net (50th minute).
At the Hill Dickinson Stadium, in a match that ended in dramatic fashion, Slovenian substitute Benjamin Šeško thought he had handed Manchester United their second win, but Everton salvaged a point at home by equalizing 2-2 in stoppage time through another substitute, new arrival Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Manchester United believed they had secured victory when Šeško responded to Tyrick George’s 83rd-minute equalizer by putting the visitors ahead in the 88th minute. However, Maitland-Niles unleashed a brilliant strike from outside the box to rescue Everton from their first defeat.
