Arsenal delivered an emphatic response to Chelsea’s emergence as potential Premier League title contenders with a 2-1 win that ended their rivals’ unbeaten start.
asserted
that → deliver → start
Mikel Arteta’s side trailed to a second-minute goal by Morgan Rogers in a pulsating London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
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side → trail → Sunday
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But the champions showed why they are firm favourites to retain the title with a blistering response to that early setback.
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they → head → setback
Kai Havertz bagged the equaliser against his former club midway through the first half and Martin Odegaard netted Arsenal’s winner soon after the interval.
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Odegaard → bag → interval
It was a statement of intent from second-placed Arsenal, who have won all three league matches to sit behind leaders Manchester City on goal scored.
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who → place → goal
The Gunners’ mature display underlined their desire to win the club’s first back-to-back titles since the 1930s.
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display → underline → 1930s
For Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso, the defeat ended his three-game winning run in all competitions since taking charge at Stamford Bridge in the close-season.
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defeat → end → season
Alonso will realise just how much work Chelsea still have to do before they are in position to end a title drought dating back to 2017.
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they → realise → 2017
Chelsea’s shaky defence is prone to costly miscues, while their vaunted attack found it harder to flourish against Arsenal than in their free-scoring wins over Fulham, Luton and Brighton.
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it → find → Fulham
Arteta and Alonso have known each other since their days as childhood friends in the Basque region of Spain.
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Arteta → know → Spain
The chaotic matches of their youth on a gravel pitch in the Berio district of San Sebastian would have seemed calm in comparison to the blood and thunder their teams brought to a raucous corner of north London.
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teams → seem → London
Chelsea beat Arsenal in the race to sign Rogers from Aston Villa in the close-season after the Gunners refused to match the Blues’ 117 million pound ($158m) bid for the England midfielder.
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Gunners → beat → midfielder
Rogers showed why Chelsea made him the most expensive British player in history as he put the Blues ahead after just 77 seconds.
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he → show → seconds
Arsenal’s rock-solid defence had allowed just one shot on target in their first two games.
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defence → allow → games
So often masters of the set-piece, Arteta’s men were found wanting at a free kick for once.
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men → find → kick
Reece James’ lofted delivery was not cleared by Declan Rice or Odegaard, giving Rogers the chance to drive a low volley past David Raya from the edge of the penalty area.
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delivery → clear → area
It was the first goal conceded by Arsenal this season.
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It → concede → Arsenal
Having conceded five times in their first two league games under Alonso, Chelsea’s three-man central defence remains flawed and they were exposed again in the 25th minute.
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they → concede → minute
Havertz was allowed to drift from the right flank to the edge of the area unchecked by Jorrel Hato before the German smashed a low strike through the slow to react Maxence Lacroix’s legs and past Emiliano Martinez at his near post.
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German → allow → post
Martinez was signed from Villa to replace the error-prone Robert Sanchez but the Argentinian’s’s weak attempted save was hardly an improvement on his hapless predecessor.
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save → sign → predecessor
Pedro Neto was inches away from restoring Chelsea’s lead just before half-time when the Portugal winger slapped his shot against the far post.
Where Chelsea were profligate, Arsenal have developed a ruthless touch in front of goal.
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Arsenal → restore → goal
They exploited Chelsea’s weakness at the back to net with a superbly-crafted move in the 50th minute.
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They → exploit → minute
Christos Tzolis has made an impressive start following his close-season move from Club Brugge and the Greek winger’s incisive pass sliced through the Chelsea defence to Havertz.
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pass → make → Havertz
The German’s clever dummy let the ball run through to Odegaard and he kept his composure to slot home from 10 yards.
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he → let → yards
Rogers’ angry clash with Rice prompted mocking chants of “you should have signed for a big club” from Arsenal fans.
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you → prompt → fans
Chelsea had chances to silence the taunts, but Malo Gusto blazed over from a good position before Estevao Willian’s rocket was tipped over by Raya in the final minutes.
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rocket → silence → minutes
Odegaard told Sky Sports it was a “massive” game for his side.
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it → tell → side
“It was a big, massive game, a tough opponent, really hard for us against a really good team,” he said.
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he → say → team
“We always want to keep fighting and have shown that many times.
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We → want → ?
Conceding early is never ideal, but our reaction was top – we could have scored some more goals and got our reward.
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we → concede → reward
I think it was a brilliant performance.”
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it → think → ?
The Aporia
