Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal: Gunners come from behind to earn a draw at Stamford Bridge
Arsenal earned a crucial draw after being 2-0 down in an enthralling London Derby against Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge.
Pochettino’s plan worked against the Gunners as his team made a positive start to the game. The Blues were knocking on Arsenal’s goal, and eventually they earned a penalty off William Saliba in the 14th minute.
VAR decided to give it a penalty, but many pundits said that it was a harsh decision. Ex-Man City player Cole Palmer stepped up and scored, which gave Chelsea an important lead.
The first half ended 1-0 as the Blues never let Arsenal settle into the game. Mikel Arteta then brought on Takehiro Tomiyasu for Oleksandr Zinchenko at half-time.
Nevertheless, the Gunners found themselves 2-0 down after Mykhailo Mudryk beat David Raya with an audacious effort from a wide crossing position, which caught the goalkeeper in no man’s land.
Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard earn crucial draw for Arsenal
Even after conceding a silly goal, Raya was still making mistakes as his sloppy pass inside his box was intercepted by Palmer, but he was able to recover to prevent Chelsea from making it 3-0.
Substitute Nicolas Jackson had a brilliant chance to score Chelsea’s third goal after Sterling’s ball, but Raya did well to dive at the striker’s feet and smother.
Till the 75th minute, Arsenal had nine shots on goal but zero on target. However, Robert Sanchez’s poor pass to Enzo Fernandez landed at Rice’s feet, who unleashed a powerful shot from the distance into the empty net to get the Gunners back into the game.
Seven minutes after Rice’s brilliant goal, Bukayo Saka, who was wearing the captain’s armband, whipped in a brilliant left-footed cross and substitute Leandro Trossard tapped it in at the far post to make it 2-2.
Eddie Nketiah came close to securing a brilliant come-back for Arsenal after a brilliant long ball from Ben White, but his shot was just wide.
The result leaves Arsenal second in the table, level on 21 points with Manchester City. They will face Sevilla away from home in the Champions League this mid-week.
