Chelsea 2 – 4 Arsenal

Eddie Nketiah was the hero for Arsenal as they re-ignited their bid for a top-four finish thanks to a thrilling 4-2 victory at Chelsea.

The Gunners took the lead not once, but twice at Stamford Bridge through goals from Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe, but on both occasions, Chelsea found a response as Timo Werner’s deflected strike and Cesar Azpilicueta’s low finish sent the sides in level at the interval.

The scoring wasn’t over in the second half as the Gunners took the lead once again, and it was Nketiah who grabbed his side’s third before Bukayo Saka sealed Arsenal’s victory from the spot after being hauled down late on by Azpilicueta.

Victory ends a run of three straight defeats in the Premier League for Arsenal and sees Mikel Arteta’s side move level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham – who they still have to play towards the end of the season – ahead of another crucial match against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, who suffered a second straight home league defeat, remain third, five points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal.

What the result means for the Premier League table?

How Arsenal stunned Chelsea at Stamford Bridge…

In what was a frantic first half, Arsenal took the lead when a long hopeful ball over was not dealt with by Andreas Christensen, and his under-hit back pass was picked up by Nketiah, who finished expertly past Edouard Mendy for his first league goal of the season.

Much to the frustration of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, the lead did not last long as Chelsea were back on level terms just four minutes later. The Gunners wasted numerous chances to clear the ball before Timo Werner’s strike deflected off Granit Xhaka to bring the scores level.

It was proving to be a difficult evening for both defences as Arsenal re-established their lead midway through the opening 45 minutes. Smith Rowe produced another fine finish to round off an excellent team goal, sweeping home into the bottom corner after excellent work from Xhaka and Martin Odegaard in the build-up.

The goals kept coming and the celebrations in the away end were cut short again as Chelsea hit back… again. Cesar Azpilicueta pounced like a striker to get on the end of Mason Mount’s ball into the box to take the two sides into the break on level terms.

Chelsea responded to their defensive frailties in the first half by bringing on Thiago Silva for Christensen, but it would be Arsenal who hit the front for a third time.

More indecision in the Chelsea defence allowed the striker to nip in and he poked home after Nuno Tavares’ cross had not been dealt with by the Blues’ backline.

Another frustrating night for Romelu Lukaku came to an end as Chelsea threw on Kai Havertz as they looked for a third equaliser of the night, but it never came.

Arsenal won a late penalty as Bukayo Saka was dragged to the ground by Azpilicueta, the forward dusting himself off to convert the resulting spot-kick to wrap up a crucial three points for the Gunners.

What the pundits said…

Sky Sports‘ Jamie Redknapp: “I do like what I saw from Arsenal. They’ve shown a bit of character.

“Saka, Nketiah, Smith Rowe they have that devilment in the way they play.

“It’s a big result, it makes it wide open again. I think if they’d lost today, it would have been too much for Arsenal to come back from four losses on the spin. They’re right back in this race.”

What’s next?

Chelsea are back at home and back on Sky Sports on Super Sunday when they host West Ham in the Premier League; kick-off 2pm. Arsenal will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Manchester United to the Emirates; kick-off 12.30pm.