Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal: 4 talking points as top four dream stays alive

Arsenal secured a vital three points at Stamford Bridge as they breathed life back into their Champions League dream. An Eddie Nketiah brace, along with an Emile Smith Rowe strike and a second-half Bukayo Saka penalty, were enough as they secured a critical 4-2 victory.

Mikel Arteta made a couple of changes to the side that lost at Southampton with Rob Holding and Mohamed Elneny coming into the side. Eddie Nketiah retained his place and Benjamin White was moved to right-back.

After a rather nervous start, Arsenal took the lead after a poor backpass from Andreas Christensen allowed Eddie Ntekiah to take possession and slide his shot past Edouard Mendy to give the Gunners the lead just 13 minutes in.

Arsenal’s lead lasted less than five minutes after the Gunners tried to play out from the back. The ball got picked off and found its way to Timo Werner who cut inside and hit his shot that took a deflection and past Aaron Ramsdale.

Chelsea 2-4 Arsenal: 4 talking points as top four dream stays alive with stunning Premier League win for Mikel Arteta’s side

Arsenal took the lead just 13 minutes later after a superb counter-attack. It started with Granit Xhaka and ended with Martin Odegaard feeding Emile Smith Rowe on the edge of the box who hit his shot first time and past Mendy.

Again, Arsenal’s lead didn’t last long. Chelsea won the ball back in their half and Mason Mount teased a ball across the six-yard box and Cesar Azpilicueta nipped in front of Nuno Tavares to poke home yet another equalizer. The first half ended 2-2 in what was a scintillating half of football.

Arsenal took the lead again, just nine minutes into the second half. Azpilicueta misplaced his pass, and Tavares picked it up and fed in Nketiah. After the ball bounced around between defenders the young Englishman poked home from close range.

The game lost its excitement with Chelsea dominating possession but was not creating any chances. Late into injury time, Arsenal was awarded a penalty after Saka was tugged down by Azpilicueta and the young star stepped up and smashed home his shot to all but guarantee a vital three points.

This Premier League classic provided plenty of talking points, here they are.

Eddie Nketiah Shows Up and Shows Out

Often much-maligned, Nketiah put all the doubters to rest tonight as he produced his best performance ever in an Arsenal shirt. A superbly well-taken brace for the 22-year-old.

His pace, energy, and cool finishing were a feature as he led the line supremely well. One could strongly make the case that Arsenal would not have taken the lead in the first half if Alexandre Lacazette was in the line-up.

The Frenchman does not possess the speed and some could say the calmness in front of goal that Nketiah produced. Does the young Englishman retain his place for Arsenal’s next game against Manchester United? Surely, he has too as tonight he was simply superb.

You can’t not after a wonderfully well-rounded display.

He always gave Arsenal an outlet, pressed and harried the Chelsea defense, used his physicality to his advantage and, most importantly, when the chances came his way he tucked them away.

Overall, an incredible performance from him tonight.

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The Defense Stood up When it Mattered

The first half resembled something out of FIFA 22, such as the ease at which both teams scored and created chances – but credit to Arteta and the back four after half-time. It was sloppy and disjointed before the break, and totally transformed afterwards.

After Nketiah tucked home his second just nine minutes into the second half, Chelsea naturally dominated possession. However, such was Arsenal’s organization, commitment, and tactical awareness, the home side created absolutely nothing.

Throughout the campaign Arsenal has, several times, been put in a position where they have a lead to hold on to and they have stuck it out every time. This is a common theme now and the mentality to stay compact, retain shape and stick to task is now incredibly well drilled into this side.

Rob Holding was sensational tonight along with Gabriel. Nuno Tavares had his moments, especially in the second half, as did Benjamin White. But when it came time to stay compact and defend, all did exceptionally well.

Just about for the entire second half, Arsenal held Chelsea to virtually no attacking threat whatsoever – at home. Need to hang onto a result? Now Arsenal seems more than capable regardless of the opponent.

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Mohamed Elneny Derby Masterclass

When the team news dropped there could be a collective sigh of angst from the Arsenal supporters. Mohamed Elneny was starting, having not done so in four months.

Often seen as the scapegoat, the Egyptian tonight was superb.

While not flashy, he did the dirty work and stuck to task, constantly being available for a pass and regularly getting in between Chelsea and their forays forward. He has been known to produce a performance like this on occasion and tonight, the 29-year-old was superb alongside Granit Xhaka.

After the break he won every tackle, every duel, blocked every pass and was on every occasion in the right place in the box to clear the danger.

Like Nketiah, Elneny is likely to keep his spot for the United game next up, and based on what we saw tonight, he can do exactly what he did at Stamford Bridge: keep the side ticking over, not do anything rash and be defensive cover for the back four.

Credit where it is due, Elneny went under the radar tonight as others in Nketiah and Saka will get the plaudits, but one could argue that the Egyptian’s game was equally as important to Arsenal’s win.

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Champions League Dream Is Still Alive

What was perhaps lost on som, is that tonight’s game was Arsenal’s ‘game in hand’, which provided extra significance. That is what makes the result even sweeter.

Now only goal difference separates the two north London sides in the race for the top four.

After a horror two weeks that saw Arsenal lose three on the bounce, many thought it was the end of their Champions League dream. However, in west London they breathed life back into the race.

Not many gave them a chance at Stamford Bridge given their recent run of form, but Arsenal looked like a team that had won three consecutive games, not lost three.

They had a plan and stuck to it with aplomb. With the Gunners playing a day earlier than Tottenham, they can put the pressure on Spurs to get a result away at Brentford if they claim all three points against Manchester United.

Just when all seemed lost in the race for Europe, the Gunners produced when they need to and thrust themselves thoroughly back into contention. Right now, everything is in their hands. Win their next six games and Champions League football is theirs.

As simple as that, right?