Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: Talking points from the Emirates Stadium [Pulse Contributor's Opinion]

Even though it was only a pre-season game, there had to be some sort of relief in the Chelsea camp after playing out a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. 

Having fallen to three straight defeats at the hands of their London rivals, ending that run with a deserved result in the opening game of the Mind Series was encouraging. Goals from Kai Havertz and Tammy Abraham, either side of Granit Xhaka’s equalizer, meant the visiting club secured the victory. 

Of course, Thomas Tuchel will want a similar result when both sides face-off on August 22 in the Premier League but halting a four-game winless streak against the Gunners was pleasing. 

Despite Mikel Arteta’s team giving as good as they got, the final result seemed fair on the balance of play and chances created throughout the 90 minutes. 

Indeed, while Gooners will point to Joe Willock’s effort in the game’s closing stages as Chelsea getting lucky (the Englishman’s effort hit the underside of the bar and looked to cross the line, but it wasn’t spotted by the linesman and there was no goal-line technology), the West London side will have had themselves to blame if they played out a 2-2 draw. 

The loss represents Arsenal’s second in as many weeks, while last season’s Champions League winners remain unbeaten. With both side’s reaching the denouement of their pre-season preparations, what stood out in the game at the Emirates? 

An early facet of the Gunners’ play under Arteta was their smoothness in playing out under pressure and progressing through the thirds.

However, on Sunday, the home side made a few mistakes when passing around under Chelsea pressure. It was unsurprising that Abraham’s winner came about after a mistake from Hector Bellerin, moments after the right-back was introduced.

Earlier, Bernd Leno had made a couple of errors in possession, but the visitors couldn’t capitalise.

Whether those errors were a one-off remains to the seen; still, it is something that has to be worked on going into the season. 

Having played out an amazing 2019/20 season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s performances dipped significantly last season where he struggled to maintain previous high standards.

On Sunday, the forward missed two gilt-edged opportunities that could have levelled the score for the three-time Premier League winners.

The first was a free header from six yards out and he shot tamely at Kepa Arrizabalaga for the second chance in the final minutes of proceedings.

After a 10-goal Premier League season last time out, Arteta will hope the 32-year-old blows away the cobwebs sooner rather than later as Arsenal seek a strong league start in the forthcoming campaign. 

The final 15 minutes of the Blues’ win were utterly nervy…but things could have been so different had they taken their chances.

Indeed, this was generally the norm for the west London side under Frank Lampard and it has continued under his successor.

On Sunday, Timo Werner missed, as did Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Abraham. Even defenders Abdul Rahman Baba and Malang Sarr managed to miss presentable chances that could have made Chelsea’s job easier in the second half.

If their showings in the last two friendlies are anything to go by, Tuchel may be facing similar goalscoring issues in the new season. 

Even though it was only a pre-season game, there had to be some sort of relief in the Chelsea camp after playing out a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. 

Having fallen to three straight defeats at the hands of their London rivals, ending that run with a deserved result in the opening game of the Mind Series was encouraging. Goals from Kai Havertz and Tammy Abraham, either side of Granit Xhaka’s equalizer, meant the visiting club secured the victory. 

Of course, Thomas Tuchel will want a similar result when both sides face-off on August 22 in the Premier League but halting a four-game winless streak against the Gunners was pleasing. 

Despite Mikel Arteta’s team giving as good as they got, the final result seemed fair on the balance of play and chances created throughout the 90 minutes. 

Indeed, while Gooners will point to Joe Willock’s effort in the game’s closing stages as Chelsea getting lucky (the Englishman’s effort hit the underside of the bar and looked to cross the line, but it wasn’t spotted by the linesman and there was no goal-line technology), the West London side will have had themselves to blame if they played out a 2-2 draw. 

The loss represents Arsenal’s second in as many weeks, while last season’s Champions League winners remain unbeaten. With both side’s reaching the denouement of their pre-season preparations, what stood out in the game at the Emirates? 

An early facet of the Gunners’ play under Arteta was their smoothness in playing out under pressure and progressing through the thirds.

However, on Sunday, the home side made a few mistakes when passing around under Chelsea pressure. It was unsurprising that Abraham’s winner came about after a mistake from Hector Bellerin, moments after the right-back was introduced.

Earlier, Bernd Leno had made a couple of errors in possession, but the visitors couldn’t capitalise.

Whether those errors were a one-off remains to the seen; still, it is something that has to be worked on going into the season. 

Having played out an amazing 2019/20 season, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s performances dipped significantly last season where he struggled to maintain previous high standards.

On Sunday, the forward missed two gilt-edged opportunities that could have levelled the score for the three-time Premier League winners.

The first was a free header from six yards out and he shot tamely at Kepa Arrizabalaga for the second chance in the final minutes of proceedings.

After a 10-goal Premier League season last time out, Arteta will hope the 32-year-old blows away the cobwebs sooner rather than later as Arsenal seek a strong league start in the forthcoming campaign. 

The final 15 minutes of the Blues’ win were utterly nervy…but things could have been so different had they taken their chances.

Indeed, this was generally the norm for the west London side under Frank Lampard and it has continued under his successor.

On Sunday, Timo Werner missed, as did Callum Hudson-Odoi, Hakim Ziyech and Abraham. Even defenders Abdul Rahman Baba and Malang Sarr managed to miss presentable chances that could have made Chelsea’s job easier in the second half.

If their showings in the last two friendlies are anything to go by, Tuchel may be facing similar goalscoring issues in the new season. 

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Seye Omidiora is a passionate football writer and pundit whose deep appreciation for the beautiful game exceeds the usual. He is currently a columnist for Goal Africa and has previously written for Vital Football UK, IBCity Info and Opera News.

Follow him on Twitter @theReal_SeyE

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