- Pedro, Morata put hosts up 2-0
- Mkhitaryan, Iwobi level by half
- Winner comes from Alson
Marcos Alonso buried Eden Hazard‘s 81st minute pass to lead Chelsea past Arsenal 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Alvaro Morata and Pedro helped the Blues build a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, but Unai Emery’s Gunners recovered to make it 2-2 at halftime.
Arsenal next hosts West Ham United, while Chelsea is off to Newcastle United.
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The hosts were up thanks to a left-sided barnstorming, with Willian starting the play with a with a lay-off inside his own half. The next move saw Marcos Alonso racing toward the edge of the 18 to pass across for Pedro to finish with calm.
Ross Barkley came close to doubling the advantage in the 13th minute.
It should’ve been level when Matteo Guendouzi fired Hector Bellerin through the right of the Chelsea back line, but the offside and uncalled Spaniard’s pull back was aired over the goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Moments later, it was 2-0 Chelsea through Morata. The Spanish striker ran from midfield and held off a Shkrodan Mustafi challenge before cutting to fire past Cech.
Arsenal blew a second well-worked chance over the frame, this time with Henrikh Mkhitaryan sending a point-blank offering into the stands. Woof.
Mkhitaryan redeemed himself with a powerful shot from outside the box. The Armenian captain was in good position after Alex Iwobi found him with Nacho Monreal‘s inspired interception.
That was not the end of the first half scoring.
It was close to a mirror image of an earlier missed chance by Aubameyang, as Iwobi ran into the 18 to belt a shot home for 2-2.
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7 – All seven of César Azpilicueta’s Premier League assists since the start of last season have come for Álvaro Morata; no player has assisted more goals for a teammate in that time (Mahrez to Vardy, also 7). Synergy. pic.twitter.com/uHmBapJQvE
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 18, 2018
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The chances did not dry up as the second half began in London, and a N'Golo Kante shot was blocked to the cries of handball from Chelsea’s players.
Jorginho‘s deflected 64th minute rip was collected by Cech after Chelsea introduced Eden Hazard off the bench.
Momentum swung Arsenal’s way as the match reached is final quarter-hour, as Kepa Arrizabalaga made a save and took a beating in the 77th minute.
Kante popped a header over the goal in the 79th minute after running in front of Sokratis.
Scoring defender extraordinaire Alonso put Chelsea back on top in the 81st, slapping Eden Hazard’s hopeful pullback beyond Cech.
