Arsenal overcame the absence of a marquee forward to secure a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in a tense London derby, with Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard delivering the decisive goals. Despite spending nearly £200m during the summer window, the Gunners were unable to sign their target elite striker. Julian Alvarez remains at Atletico Madrid, while interests in Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola, and Vinicius Jr all came to nothing.
Rogers joined Chelsea instead, Barcola moved to Liverpool, and Vinicius Jr stayed at Real Madrid. Yet the reigning champions have maintained their strong momentum from last season, when they claimed their first Premier League title in 22 years. After opening wins against Coventry City and Aston Villa, they responded to going behind to beat high-spending Chelsea on Sunday.
Morgan Rogers, Arsenal’s £117m summer signing, opened the scoring for Chelsea just two minutes into the match. However, Arsenal showed resilience, with Havertz equalizing before halftime and Odegaard securing the win in the 50th minute. The victory leaves Arsenal one of only two clubs, alongside Manchester City, with a perfect nine points from three games.
“Our mentality is to keep fighting. We have shown that many times,” said captain Odegaard. “We never want to concede early, but the reaction is top. We got our reward in the end and the response was brilliant.”
Odegaard has now scored three goals in four appearances this season, compared to just one in 36 games last term. Former England international Ashley Young praised the Norwegian’s influence, stating, “He’s just a joy to watch. He’s exciting when he gets on the ball, and he’s allowing other players to get on the ball.”
Young also highlighted the impact of Riccardo Calafiori, noting his role in setting up the winner. “It was his run, and he played it precisely, for the winning goal. He goes quickly, takes people out of the way. It’s just clever. Arsenal deserved all three points,” Young added.
Havertz praised his teammate’s form, saying, “He’s an unbelievable player – we have seen that over the last years. He’s going to help us a lot this season.” Former Premier League champion Chris Sutton also backed Arsenal, asserting, “I can’t see anyone stopping Arsenal. They’re such a powerhouse.”
The win marks Arsenal’s eighth consecutive league victory, spanning the end of last season and the current campaign. They have now won their opening three top-flight games while conceding only one goal, a feat last achieved in the 2003-04 unbeaten title season.
Arsenal face Sunderland in their next league match on Saturday before launching their Champions League campaign against Napoli midweek. Havertz expressed confidence heading into the Italian fixture, remarking, “Chelsea have an amazing squad, but so do we. We knew it was going to be tough… but we believed in ourselves and changed the game around.”
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