Chelsea vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the action from Stamford Bridge
Bukayo Saka banished his Euro 2020 final penalty shoot-out ghosts by converting a spot-kick as Arsenal toppled Chelsea 4-2 to reignite their bid for a top-four Premier League finish.
The England forward slotted home his first-ever penalty for Arsenal to seal the Gunners’ vital win over the Blues, that drew Mikel Arteta’s men level with fourth-placed Tottenham in the table.
Saka missed the last penalty in England’s 3-2 shoot-out defeat to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley last July.
The 20-year-old won the late spot-kick at Stamford Bridge by drawing a foul from Cesar Azpilicueta, and quickly insisted on taking the penalty himself.
Saka dismissed any nerves by side-footing home to boot, to put the seal on a crucial win for the Gunners.
Eddie Nketiah had twice seized upon slipshod defending to drive Arsenal into a 3-2 lead before Saka’s strike.
Nketiah capitalised on Andreas Christensen’s woefully under-hit back-pass for his first Arsenal goal in 367 days, to open the scoring in west London.
The 22-year-old forward later settled a scrappy but engrossing contest when three attempted Chelsea clearances landed the ball straight into his path and through on goal.
Timo Werner’s deflected effort had Chelsea level quickly after Nketiah’s first goal, with captain Azpilicueta then cancelling out a fine finish from Emile Smith Rowe before half-time.
The fatigued and off-kilter Blues were made to pay for a string of errors however, with £98million striker Romelu Lukaku again failing to fire.
Toni Rudiger’s absence with a minor groin problem destabilised Chelsea’s defence, and Christensen endured a night to forget.
The Denmark international was withdrawn at half-time in a below-par showing, but not even the peerless Thiago Silva could sharpen up the hosts.
Arsenal took full advantage of Chelsea’s malaise to notch just their second win in six league matches, breaking a wretched run of results to move below Spurs on goal difference, leaving the race to finish fourth wide open.
Relive all the action live below:
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
48 mins: Ruben Loftus-Cheek flicks the ball down the right side looking to play Romelu Lukaku in behind. The striker halts his run though as he looks offside and Aaron Ramsdale comes out to tidy up for Arsenal.
Second half: Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
Kick off: Thiago Silva has come on for Chelsea replacing Andreas Christensen in the back line. Mason Mount restarts the match with a pass back to Reece James. Arsenal fly forward on the press but Chelsea pass it around the attackers and work the ball down the left side. Mount slides Werner into the box and he fires an early shot into the side netting.
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
Emile Smith Rowe (10) is only the second Arsenal player aged 21 or younger to score 10+ Premier League goals in a season, after Nicolas Anelka in 1998-99 (17).
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
Chelsea vs Arsenal has seen both sides score twice in the first 32 minutes, the earliest into a Premier League match that both teams have scored two goals since Liverpool vs Leeds on the opening day of 2020-21 (30th min)
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
The first half swung beautifully back and forth as Eddie Nketiah opened the scoring before Timo Werner equalised a few minutes later. Emile Smith Rowe struck to send the Gunners back in front but Cesar Azpilicueta netted to send the teams into the break on level terms.
Half-time: Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
45+2 mins: A blistering half of football comes to an end with neither team taking an advantage into the break. Arsenal will arguably be the happier side as they’ve been lacking goals recently but have looked sharp in front of goal.
Thomas Tuchel will be drilling his players to cut out the mistakes. If they game continues like this it’s open for whichever team wants to win more.
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
45 mins: Two minutes of added time to play at the end of this first half. Edouard Mendy is given the ball with Arsenal pressing up the pitch. He looks to pass it across to Reece James but is way off target and ends up knocking the ball out for a throw in.
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
42 mins: Arsenal win a free kick in Chelsea’s half but don’t make much use of it as Mohamed Elneny’s chipped pass into the box is easily dealt with by the home side.
Chance! Saka drives forward down the right and passes the ball across to Odegaard. He slots it into the front of the box for Smith Rowe who shimmies around two or three defenders and blasts his effort just wide of goal!
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
39 mins: Timo Werner is having a good game for Chelsea. He sprints back to recover the ball then kicks off an attack that results in another wayward shot from Marcos Alonso. The Chelsea chant his name to show their support for his efforts.
Chelsea 2 - 2 Arsenal
36 mins: It’s confident play from Arsenal despite having their lead cut out twice. They’re passing the ball quickly and getting themselves into decent areas in the final third. Likewise for Chelsea.
This is a cracking game. Mason Mount laces a diagonal ball over to Marcos Alonso who controls it in the box and fires his effort wide of goal.
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