Chelsea 1 - 1 Arsenal - Match Report

A Gabriel Martinelli strike was cancelled out by Pedro Neto as we shared a 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

After a scoreless first half that saw Kai Havertz have a goal chalked off by VAR for offside, we took the lead on the hour mark when the returning Martin Odegaard crossed for Martinelli to flash a shot past Robert Sanchez, but the lead only lasted 10 minutes when Pedro Neto fizzed in a 25-yarder.

We looked dangerous throughout and created plenty of bright moments after that with Leandro Trossard nearly prodding in a William Saliba cross in the final second, but ultimately we had to settle for a point in west London.

Both teams went into this game locked on 18 points, and there was little between the teams in the opening 25 minutes, where we enjoyed long periods of possession and looked threatening, but we couldn’t quite conjure up a good chance. Instead, the hosts had three good sights of goal but thankfully couldn’t take advantage.

The contest was just a couple of minutes old when Cole Palmer tried his luck from 25 yards and forced David Raya to tip over his fierce attempt, and Noni Madueke headed wide before Pedro Neto carved out a golden opportunity with a cross for Malo Gusto at the back post but the defender sent his header over under pressure from Gabriel Martinelli.

However, on 26 minutes a big chance did fall our way when we pressurised the Blues at a goal-kick and won back possession. Bukayo Saka’s shot deflected off Moise Caicedo and spun into the path of Martinelli, but when one-on-one with Robert Sanchez he could only fire at a grateful goalkeeper.

Six minutes later we did get the ball in the net when some quick thinking by Declan Rice saw him slip in Kai Havertz with a free-kick, and the German showed great composure to pick his spot past Sanchez. But the celebrations were cut short when VAR came Enzo Maresca’s rescue, as replays showed our man was fractionally offside.

We had gradually worked our way through the gears as the game progressed, and that continued as the first half gave way for the second. Chelsea may have had the first opportunity after the restart when Gusto twisted his body to divert the ball onto the roof of the net, but on 60 minutes we managed to find a way in front.

It was the returning Odegaard who unlocked the defence. Our skipper collected the ball off Thomas Partey on the edge of the area and faced with a congested penalty, dinked a delightful ball over it for Saka and Martinelli to run onto. The Brazilian won the race, took a touch and tucked the ball between Sanchez and his near post to send the travelling Gunners behind him into raptures, and potentially set us on our way to a fourth win in our last five trips to the Bridge.

Fueled with the confidence of going 1-0 up, it was nearly 2-0 six minutes later when Jurrien Timber embarked on a mazy run from left-back, beating two players and riding another challenge before letting fly from 20 yards and just missing the bottom corner, but suddenly the game was all square again on 70 minutes when Enzo Fernandez picked up possession in space and found Neto, who thumped a low 25 yarder into the bottom of Raya’s net.

Undeterred, we pressed on in search of the lead again and two half-chances fell to Mikel Merino who was a stud’s length away from prodding home a Saka cross, before he got the faintest of touches on an Odegaard delivery that almost deceived Sanchez.

With four minutes remaining Sanchez produced a good stop to prevent an own goal with Leandro Trossard blazing the rebound over from close range, albeit his blushes were spared by the offside flag, but in the final seconds we nearly managed to snatch victory.

Timber and William Saliba linked up on the left and it was the centre-back who flashed a cross into the box which just evaded Trossard and trickled over the touchline, before Michael Oliver signalled the end of the match.

We have gone four consecutive Premier League games without a win for the first time April 2023 (D2 L2), having picked up all three points in 21 of their previous 25 league matches before this (D3 L1).

Chelsea will end a day in the top three places of the Premier League table for the first time since the final day of the 2021/22 season.

The Blues have won just one of their 19 Premier League games since the 2021/22 season against teams that finished the previous campaign inside the top three positions.

Pedro Neto has either scored (2) or assisted (1) in each of his last three Premier League starts against us, with today’s goal ending a run of 17 league appearances in a row without him finding the net.

Gabriel Martinelli has scored three goals in his last six Premier League appearances, more than he managed across his previous 21 league outings (2 goals).

Martin Odegaard made his first Premier League appearance since August against Brighton – he registered his eighth assist from open play in the competition in 2024, with only Cole Palmer (11) and Mohamed Salah (9) recording more this calendar year.

We now head into the final international break of the year, with our first game back coming on Saturday, November 23 when Nottingham Forest visit Emirates Stadium. Then we're off to Portugal for Champions League action when we tackle Sporting Lisbon the following Tuesday, before another London derby at West Ham United on the last day of the month.