Arsenal secured a 2-1 victory over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday in the first heavyweight clash of the Premier League season.
Morgan Rogers stunned Mikel Arteta’s defending champions by putting the Blues ahead after just 77 seconds, but Kai Havertz levelled against his former club before captain Martin Ødegaard completed the turnaround after the break.
The result strengthens Arsenal’s status as title favourites, while Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea showed enough to suggest they could be serious contenders for the Premier League crown.
Ødegaard lauds Arsenal mentality
After the game, Ødegaard said on the BBC: “Our mentality is to keep fighting – we have shown that many times.
“We never want to concede early, but the reaction is top.
“We got our reward in the end and the response was brilliant.
“We showed our quality with and without the ball, and the result reflects that.”
Alonso focuses on positives
Alonso, meanwhile, told Sky Sports: “My priority is to win games. Normally you win games when you don’t concede many goals.
“It’s something we need to address. We need to be tighter, more clinical, more balanced – but this takes time.
“We wanted to compete. We knew we were not that far, but it went their way. The result is the result; I can’t argue against that.
“We need to take it, not happy. It hurts. Disappointed for sure. This is our first defeat.
“It’s game three or four for us in a new phase starting with Chelsea. I’m pleased with the spirit and attitude of the players. They worked hard.”
Carragher highlights defensive superiority
Analysing the match, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher stated: “There is a massive gulf between both teams: their XIs and the squads.
“It will take Chelsea a while to get to that level, if they can get there, but I thought Arsenal were fantastic.
“We don’t normally see Arsenal in these games, end-to-end, because they very rarely go behind.
“They’re so strong defensively they don’t need to get involved in those games.
“They still didn’t look like they were going to give too much away, even though they were bombing forwards and putting so many bodies in the opposition box.”
Carragher added: “I think the worrying thing for everybody else already is that William Saliba, who is genuinely world-class and arguably the best centre-back in world football, has not played a minute of football so far this season – and it doesn’t look like anyone can score against them.”
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