Why Arsenal’s comeback against Chelsea doesn’t paper over their overall poor performance
Arsenal are one of only two unbeaten teams in the Premier League this season, alongside north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners have certainly gone through a tougher fixture list, but they’ve managed to come out unscathed on every occasion.
Having already beaten Manchester United and Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s side went into Saturday’s Premier League game against Chelsea in high spirits.
However, despite being huge favourites, they were surprised by the Blues' performance and had to rely on a late comeback to earn a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Gunners come from behind to snatch draw
Despite their unbeaten record and impressive league position (second behind Manchester City), Arsenal's performances this season haven't been entirely convincing. They suffered a 2-1 defeat against Lens in the Champions League and struggled for large periods during their encounter against Chelsea.
Until the final 13 minutes, when Robert Sanchez’s costly mistake allowed Declan Rice to fire the ball into an empty net and make it 2-1, Arsenal were in sixes and sevens.
But the mark of good teams is to conjure results even when they’re not playing well and Arsenal managed to build on Rice's goal to snatch a draw late in the game, thanks to Leandro Trossard’s 84th minute equaliser.
It’s always encouraging for a team to come from behind, and to do so from two goals down against their London rivals makes it even more remarkable. However, the match also exposed the Gunners’ weaknesses and provided a blueprint on how to neutralise them.
Draw doesn’t paper over Arsenal’s underperformance
While Arsenal have been defensively solid this season, picking up from where they left off in the previous campaign, their attack has been misfiring lately. The 3-1 scoreline against Manchester United flattered the Gunners and they only managed to scrape through against teams like Nottingham Forest, Everton, and Crystal Palace.
Against Chelsea, Arteta's men were passive for large spells. There were also too many individual underperformances, with Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, and Bukayo Saka struggling to influence the game. Sake ultimately provided the assist for the equaliser, but he was poor overall.
"Even though we conceded in a situation like the goal of Mudryk, we kept going and they did exactly what we asked of them, that you never give up and we continued to go and go," Arteta said after the game, as quoted by Goal.
"We should have scored a goal earlier, we didn't, but the team was always there to fight until the end. In the end, we got a point after a really difficult result and the way it started."
Arsenal rode their luck against Chelsea, but that good fortune might not continue against other teams. For a side looking to challenge for the Premier League, they cannot afford to play this way and drop points in this manner.
The Gunners may have earned a draw in the end, but the result doesn’t paper over how poor they were, which is something Arteta should be worried about ahead of subsequent games.