Morgan Rogers did not see a great difference between Arsenal and his Chelsea side (Picture: REUTERS) Morgan Rogers feels Chelsea went toe-to-toe with Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday and it was only ‘a bit of quality in and around the box’ which proved the difference between the teams. The Gunners came from behind to win the game 2-1 and keep up their perfect start to the Premier League season. The afternoon started brilliantly for the visitors as Rogers put the Blues ahead within two minutes with a strike from the edge of the penalty box. This sparked a wildly entertaining first half, which was played at a relentlessly fast pace as both teams attacked at every opportunity. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Arsenal equalised through Kai Havertz on 25 minutes and went ahead early in the second half thanks to Martin Odegaard. That was the end of the scoring and Arsenal ultimately deserved the win, although there was a scare late on as David Raya was forced into an excellent save by substitute Estevao. Rogers was looking at the positives in Chelsea’s first loss of the season and felt there was very little between the teams, just the key moments as Havertz and Odegaard found the back of the net. Rogers clashed with England teammate Declan Rice late in the game (Picture: Getty Images) ‘We never gave in. We went toe-to-toe with them physically, mentally being switched on and being so focused,’ Rogers told Chelsea club media. ‘That’s the most difficult thing with coming here and playing Arsenal. They’re so physically demanding it’s tough to play against them, but we matched them in that element. ‘Probably a bit of quality in and around the box where they scored two and we didn’t and I think ultimately you could be looking at a different game, but there’s other things that we can work. ‘That’s the way football is sometimes, you try and nit-pick sometimes but there there’s not necessarily need to because sometimes you just lose a game and that’s what it is. Not to get too down and low about it we’ll keep moving and be fine.’ Kai Havertz was impressive up front for Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images) Rogers said Chelsea were happy to learn things from Mikel Arteta’s team, but did not feel that they were outclassed in any department. ‘They’re the champions and we want to aspire to to do things in the league as well,’ he said. ‘You look at that and you see what they do and you want to compete and match it and see where you are and see where you’re at. ‘I think we did that all over the pitch. I can’t look at a player in there and say we didn’t match and go toe-to-toe with them in any part of the game. So I think that’s that’s a real positive to take from it.’ Arsenal had more of the ball, created more chances and certainly could have scored again late on if they had been more clinical on the counter-attack. However, Chelsea threatened throughout, with Pedro Neto hitting a post and Rogers also having a good chance to score a second in the first half. Blues boss Xabi Alonso is just three matches into his spell in charge at Stamford Bridge and was pleased with a lot of what he saw at the Emirates, with plenty still to work on. Xabi Alonso suffered a first loss as Chelsea boss (Picture: Getty Images) ‘We didn’t want to from the first minute sit deep and to wait and to make it a long game,’ he said. ‘We wanted to be active. We wanted to be protagonists in the pressing – sometimes to go higher, sometimes lower – to have good possession. ‘We did many things right, other things we need to make better. We need to learn from them, because this is the top level and when we have to play at the top level we want to be as efficient and as accurate in all the phases of the game as possible. ‘But this is where we are. This is game three for us in this new start, this new phase for Chelsea, but I am happy with the spirit and attitude of the players. They have given
Wayne Rooney says Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes was 'extremely lucky' not to be sent off for a kick to the head - with the centre back's antics being picked apart.
It is surely too early in the season to get carried away, and there are likely to be bigger tests ahead for Mikel Arteta's side. Against Chelsea, they had to find a different way to win after £117m signing Morgan Rogers fired the visitors into a second-minute lead at Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Former Manchester United and England player Ashley Young said Odegaard's form will be key for Arsenal this season.
Chelsea should take ‘confidence’ from their 2-1 defeat to Arsenal, says Gary Neville (Picture: Sky Sports) Gary Neville says Chelsea are going in the ‘right direction’ under Xabi Alonso and should finish no lower than third in the Premier League this season. After winning their opening two matches against Fulham and Brighton, Chelsea were given their sternest test yet away to the champions Arsenal on Sunday. The visitors got off to a dream start as Morgan Rogers fired a brilliant second-minute volley past David Raya from the edge of the box to send the away end into raptures at the Emirates. But the Gunners rallied and found an equaliser through Kai Havertz, who beat Emiliano Martinez at his near post with a smart finish against his former club. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. The two teams went into the half-time break all square before Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard capitalised on an exquisite dummy from Havertz to put the hosts in front for the first time in the contest. Mikel Arteta’s men held firm to come away from the derby with a 2-1 victory, ensuring they moved level on points with Manchester City – last year’s runners-up – at the top of the table. Arsenal are now undefeated in their last 12 matches in all competitions versus the Blues, dating back to the latter’s 2-0 win at the Emirates in August 2021. Odegaard scored the decisive goal in north London (Picture: Getty) Rogers had put the away side in front in only the second minute (Picture: Getty) Chelsea’s latest setback leaves the club stuck down in fourth, with Alonso’s side facing third-placed Hull City in their next top-flight game on Saturday afternoon. Dissecting the match on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville picked out where there remain some question marks in Chelsea’s starting XI. The former Manchester United and England right-back also revealed his ‘surprise’ at Alonso’s decision to remove Romeo Lavia for Malo Gusto on the hour-mark in north London. ‘I thought Emiliano Martinez should have saved that first goal and he’ll be really disappointed with that,’ Neville said. ‘The back three is a question and whether that can grow to be good enough… [Wesley] Fofana not reading the one where Havertz dummies it. Again, just that experience, being wise. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"'It was beautiful': Arteta hails Arsenal's attack-to-defence display in win against Chelsea","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/07\/2593273995855020828\/480x270_MP4_2593273995855020828.mp4","description":"Arsenal came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium after Morgan Rogers stunned home fans into silence with a volleyed goal 77 seconds into the game.","duration":"T5M27S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/07\/07\/111091359-0-image-a-53_1788761962819.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-07T07:17:08+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘Whether the wing-backs are good enough right now… but I think [Pedro] Neto did a very good job and [Jorrel] Hato’s done okay. ‘In midfield, I thought Lavia played well. He was disappointed to go off and I was surprised to see him go off but they don’t want to lose him, maybe they thought Gusto a
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