Arsenal come from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 in an early game of the season contender

Two minutes in, this looked like it might be Chelsea's afternoon. Morgan Rogers — a player Arsenal had tried to sign this summer — steered his new club ahead inside the first two minutes at the Emirates. By half-time it had turned into exactly the sort of statement win the champions like to make.

Kai Havertz levelled it on 25 minutes, and Martin Ødegaard put Arsenal ahead five minutes into the second half, the move started by Christos Tzolis and finished after a Havertz dummy. Arsenal stayed level with Manchester City at the top of the table, both unbeaten after three games.

A game with everything

Riccardo Calafiori had an early goal chalked off for offside, Pedro Neto struck the post for Chelsea in first-half stoppage time, and David Raya had to be at his best to deny Estêvão in the 89th minute. Neither side let go of the contest for a moment.

Chelsea's front three of Cole Palmer, João Pedro and Rogers gave Arsenal problems all afternoon, but it was the champions who finished the stronger side, with nine shots on target to Chelsea's five.

Arsenal's perfect start

Three matchweeks in, this is Arsenal's best start in years, both in results and in the numbers behind them: three wins from three, six goals scored and only one conceded. It opened with the 3-0 dismantling of Coventry City, a newly promoted side that did not manage a single tackle in the opening 45 minutes, continued with a scrappier 1-0 at Aston Villa built around one Bukayo Saka finish, and was completed here against a Chelsea side that had scored eight goals in its first two matches. Arsenal now share the league's joint-best goal difference, +5, with Manchester City — it is City's extra goal scored, not anything Arsenal have conceded, that keeps them a place above.

Chelsea's first defeat of the Alonso era

For Chelsea it was a different kind of milestone: the first defeat of Xabi Alonso's time in charge, after opening wins away at Fulham (3-2, three goals up by the hour and then hanging on) and at home to Brighton (4-3, three goals up inside 32 minutes and then hanging on again). Both those wins ran on the same pattern — a fast, three-goal burst followed by a second-half scare — and the pattern showed up again here, an early lead wiped out either side of half-time. Eight goals scored in three games is a fine return, but seven conceded is the shakiest defensive record of anyone in the current top six, well clear of Arsenal's one and Manchester City's two. Chelsea still sit fourth on 6 points, inside the Champions League places, but three matches into Alonso's reign the pattern is now hard to miss: goals at one end are coming easily, and games are getting harder to see out than they should be.

Match facts

• 2' — Morgan Rogers (Chelsea)
• 25' — Kai Havertz (Arsenal)
• 50' — Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal), from Christos Tzolis via a Havertz dummy
• 12' — Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal) — goal disallowed for offside
• 45+3' — Pedro Neto (Chelsea) hits the post

What's next

Arsenal sit 2nd on 9 points, level with Manchester City in the Champions League places, and travel to Sunderland on Saturday 12 September. Chelsea are 4th on 6 points, also inside the top five, and host Hull City the same afternoon at Stamford Bridge.