Arsenal Come From Behind to Beat Chelsea and Maintain Perfect Start
Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium, maintaining a perfect start to their title defence and moving level at the top of the Premier League with Manchester City.
Martin Odegaard scored the winner in the 50th minute after Morgan Rogers had put Chelsea in front early against a club he had been linked with over the summer. Kai Havertz equalised before the interval.
A Test Passed
The defeat was Chelsea's first of the season and ended a strong start under Xabi Alonso. Arsenal, who now have nine points from three matches, were made to work for it, with Pedro Neto hitting the post in first-half stoppage time and Chelsea threatening on the counter throughout.
Ezri Konsa made his first start for Arsenal at centre-back, deputising for the absent Cristhian Mosquera, having arrived from Aston Villa on August 21.
Odegaard said afterwards that the team's mentality was to keep fighting and that they had shown it many times, adding that the reaction to conceding early had been strong and that the result reflected their quality.
Mikel Arteta was less pleased with the goal his side conceded but described the performance as a joy to watch, singling out a number of individual displays.
Maitland-Niles Denies United
The day's other headline result came at Hill Dickinson Stadium, where Everton scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Manchester United.
United led twice. Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring shortly after half-time and Benjamin Sesko headed what looked like a winner in the 88th minute, after Tyrique George had levelled with a goal from a tight angle in the 83rd.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles, a deadline day signing and an Arsenal academy product, came off the bench for his Everton debut and curled a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to salvage a point. He said the ball had fallen to him and he had put his foot through it, and that he was happy with where it ended up.
It leaves United with four points from three games after a defeat at Hull and a win over Ipswich. Everton remain unbeaten on five points.
Elsewhere in Matchweek Three
Manchester City beat Coventry 1-0 at the Etihad through an Erling Haaland header in the 26th minute, having ridden their luck early on when the promoted side created two clear chances. Rayan Cherki also struck the post.
Ben Chilwell marked his return to Crystal Palace with a 77th-minute winner in a 3-2 victory at Fulham, Palace having twice pegged back a one-goal deficit before going ahead.
Brighton drew 1-1 with Leeds, with club-record signing Luka Vuskovic heading his first goal in English football. Tottenham collected their first point of the season in a goalless draw at Nottingham Forest, and Hull City extended their unbeaten start with a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa.
Newcastle were held 2-2 at home by Bournemouth, while Brentford and Sunderland drew 1-1. Liverpool had opened the round on Friday with a 2-0 win at Ipswich.
Liverpool host Fulham at Anfield next weekend.
