Arsenal’s 2-1 comeback victory over Chelsea has delivered more than another three Premier League points, with Mikel Arteta’s side matching a home record against their London rivals not achieved since 1994.
Kai Havertz cancelled out Morgan Rogers‘ early opener before Martin Ødegaard completed the turnaround shortly after half-time.
The result maintained Arsenal’s perfect league start and extended an increasingly remarkable period of dominance over Chelsea.
Arsenal equal 32-year Chelsea record
Arsenal have now won five consecutive home league matches against Chelsea.
Chelsea’s official pre-match statistics confirmed Arsenal had not managed a longer winning sequence at home to the Blues since recording five successive victories between 1990 and 1994.
We highlighted the possibility before kick-off in our feature on the 32-year Arsenal record hovering over Chelsea.
Arteta’s side have now matched it.
The wider record is even more striking.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 12 competitive meetings with Chelsea, extending a sequence that stood at eight victories and three draws before Sunday’s game. Reuters also noted Chelsea’s winless run against Arsenal has now reached 12 matches.
Arteta’s own managerial record against Chelsea has consequently improved to 12 victories from 18 meetings, with only two defeats.
The manner of Sunday’s victory will make the sequence particularly satisfying.
Arsenal fell behind after only 77 seconds, had a Riccardo Calafiori equaliser disallowed and still recovered to take control of the game.
Former Chelsea forward Havertz played a central role, scoring the equaliser before his intelligent dummy helped create Ødegaard’s winner.
Our analysis before the game identified Havertz as Arteta’s key weapon against his former club, and that prediction proved particularly timely.
Chelsea will eventually end this run.
For now, however, Arsenal’s dominance of one of London’s biggest rivalries continues to grow.
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