It was another ludicrously entertaining if imperfect top-six match at the Emirates that somehow, but somewhat justifiably, ended up perfectly balanced at 2-2.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea could complain of refereeing errors, both sides could complain of misses, and both could complain of missed chances, but no one could really complain about the result. The audience, meanwhile, couldn’t complain about an ending like that as wing-backs Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin exchanged big goals, Alvaro Morata missed another big chance and Davide Zappacosta hit the bar.
By that frantic point, it was easy to overlook that Jack Wilshere scored when he might have been sent off and Arsene Wenger might have more refereeing issues, given Anthony Taylor’s decision to award Eden Hazard a debatable penalty after a challenge by Bellerin.
The result won’t do much for either side’s season, really, but it will do a lot for the Premier League’s marketing even if they weren’t here selling perfection.
This was an epic match to go with Manchester United’s trip here as well as Liverpool’s, but not one that went along with the recent history of these two clubs.
This is a fixture that, perhaps more than any in the Premier League, has followed distinctive patterns over long periods of time. There was more than a decade of almost singular Arsenal dominance between 1993 and 2004, before more than a decade of almost singular Chelsea dominance between 2004 and 2016, with both of those spells characterised by a control and calculation that comes from simply knowing how to beat the other side.
While that was disrupted recently by some of the volatility at both clubs, it did seem like this match was going to be conditioned by a similar caginess, only for the first half to completely break pattern for something we have only rarely seen between this pairing: outright chaos and a lack of calculation.
It was as if both sides realised how vulnerable the other were after the Christmas period, with that first signalled by – well – a clear lack of signalling between Shkodran Mustafi and Calum Chambers in the centre of the Arsenal defence on 15 minutes. That allowed Morata a clear run at goal, but he produced something seen twice against Stoke City on Saturday; he showed a frustrating lack of ruthlessness in his game, badly squandering a one-on-one. This was probably worse than either of those, as he screwed the ball poorly wide, rather than at the body of the goalkeeper.
If Petr Cech didn’t need to produce heroics there, Thibaut Courtois did for Arsenal’s response. Alexis Sanchez got free in the Chelsea box as the game opened up, and seemed set to find the corner with a low shot. Courtois, however, brilliantly got his hand to the ball, touching it on to the post before it bounced back off the other post and into play rather than over the line.
The Belgian maybe produced a better save moments later, getting down well to keep out an Alexandre Lacazette shot after a sharp turn.
Then again, it was just a game of sharp turns, not least in momentum. Every time it looked like one side had a grasp of it, the other cut loose. That was the case just before half-time when Chelsea broke for Eden Hazard to dribble through and backheel for the frequently booed Cesc Fabregas… but his shot was just over.
That did reflect that there was maybe a greater vulnerability to Arsenal’s makeshift centre-half pairing, and the constant concern for them throughout the game was when – rather than whether – Hazard’s excellence would expose them. He should really have done so just after half-time, but a low and slightly lax shot was diverted by Cech.
Errors were hardly confined to Arsenal’s defence, though. The game was pockmarked by them, such as just seconds after Hazard’s miss when Lacazette looked to turn Gary Cahill, missed but fortuitously got the deflection, then saw his shot blocked.
There was maybe an error from referee Taylor, too, as he missed a dive from Wilshere when the midfielder was on a booking.
It was to prove telling. On 65 minutes, after yet another attacking move was disrupted, a defensive touch from N’Golo Kante didn’t have enough on it and fell – inevitably – to Wilshere. He lashed the ball past Courtois to make it 1-0.
Within moments, however, Wenger was grumbling about the ref himself. Hazard naturally had the ball in the box, Bellerin went in on him, and the Belgian went down. A penalty was given and Hazard himself naturally took the opportunity to make it 1-1.
It wasn’t just the opportunity for an equaliser, but an opportunity to eke out proper control of the game. That was how affected Arsenal were, how emboldened Chelsea were. Morata had two more chances to score and missed, before Alonso showed him how it was done. Maitland-Niles was also done – but his team weren’t.
Bellerin made it 2-2, in a match that still had too much.
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