Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea: the first goal they have conceded

Arsenal had not conceded a goal all season. Two minutes into Sunday afternoon at the Emirates, Morgan Rogers hit one in from outside the box and that was over. What followed was the first thing this Arsenal side had genuinely not yet been asked to do: come from behind.

They did it, 2-1, through Kai Havertz on twenty-five minutes and Martin Ødegaard on fifty. It takes them to nine points from three matches, level with Manchester City at the top, and it is comfortably the most convincing ninety minutes they have played.

Rogers scores after 120 seconds

Rogers finished right-footed from outside the box into the bottom left corner, assisted by Jorrel Hato with a headed pass. It was the first goal Arsenal had conceded in 182 minutes of Premier League football this season.

Chelsea had arrived having won two matches without controlling either — 3-2 at Fulham and 4-3 against Brighton with 25.6% of the ball — and the early goal fitted that profile exactly. What did not fit was what happened afterwards.

Arsenal produced their best attacking performance of the season

Havertz equalised on twenty-five, left-footed from outside the box into the bottom right corner, assisted by Declan Rice. Ødegaard scored the winner five minutes into the second half, left-footed from the centre of the box, assisted by Christos Tzolis.

The shot numbers are the story underneath the result. Arsenal had sixteen attempts and nine on target. In their first two matches combined they had fourteen attempts and four on target. This was a different team from the one that beat Aston Villa 1-0 with seven shots.

Chelsea had thirteen shots and five on target with 45.4% of the ball — more possession than they had in either of their two wins, and less end product.

What the afternoon settled

Before Sunday there was one honest gap in Arsenal’s season: they had led in both of their matches, never trailed, and nobody knew what they looked like chasing a game. Two minutes in, they found out.

The answer was that they equalised inside twenty-three minutes and led inside fifty. It is a small sample and it was one afternoon, but it removes the most obvious question about a side that had won its first two matches without ever being uncomfortable.

It also ends the clean-sheet run at two matches, which matters less than it reads. Arsenal have conceded one goal in three matches, which is still the joint-best defensive record in the division alongside Hull City, who have conceded none.

Chelsea lose for the first time

Chelsea drop to fourth with six points, three behind the top two. They have scored eight goals and conceded seven in three matches, which is the most entertaining record in the division and not obviously a sustainable one.

Their season so far consists of a 3-2 win at Fulham, a 4-3 win over Brighton with a quarter of the ball, and a 2-1 defeat with almost half of it. There has not been a single controlled ninety minutes among the three, and they sold Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for £125m six days before this match.

Fourth after three rounds is a perfectly good position. The manner of it — seven conceded, never in charge of a match — is the thing to watch across September.

Nine shots on target, after four in two matches

The transformation in Arsenal’s attacking output is the most concrete thing to come out of the weekend. Seven shots against Coventry, seven against Aston Villa, four on target across the two. Sixteen shots and nine on target here.

More than doubling the shot count and more than doubling the accuracy, against the side that had scored eight goals in two matches, is not a small adjustment. It suggests the controlled, low-volume performances of the first fortnight were a choice about the opposition rather than a limit.

Havertz and Ødegaard both scored left-footed, one from outside the box and one from inside it, and both goals came from assists by players who had not registered one this season — Rice for the first, Tzolis for the second.

Chelsea, meanwhile, had more possession than in either of their wins and produced less. Five on target from thirteen attempts is a normal afternoon; it was simply not enough against a side that had a better one.

The table after three rounds

Manchester City and Arsenal are on nine points with a goal difference of plus five each, City ahead on goals scored. Hull City are third on seven. Chelsea are fourth on six. Then eight clubs between five points and four.

Two clubs have won everything and eighteen have not. That is the shape of the season so far, and the Emirates on Sunday was the first time either of the top two had to recover from anything.

You can play the remaining thirty-five rounds out on the Premier League simulator on this site, starting from exactly this table with the real fixture list.