Chelsea beat Arsenal 3-2 in London derby thriller

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Chelsea came out on top in a 3-2 thriller against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, following their opening-day win over Huddersfield.

The Blues have now won both games under new manager Maurizio Sarri while Arsenal have suffered back-to-back defeats under Arsene Wenger’s successor and former Paris Saint-Germain boss, Unai Emery.

But any result would have been possible in a back-and-forth game marked by poor defending and astonishing misses, with Arsenal particularly guilty of both in the first half.

Sarri admitted his side suffered a “horrible” 15 minutes which could have cost them dear.

“Three points is an important target for us, we did very well for 75 minutes but inside that, 15 minutes were horrible,” he said.

Chelsea went ahead in the ninth minute when Pedro buried a cross by Alonso. Out-of-form striker Alvaro Morata scored only his second league goal of 2018, fed by a through ball from Cesar Azpilicueta 11 minutes later.

Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang feels guilty of a horrendous miss during their clash with Chelsea. /VCG Photo

Arsenal clawed their way back into the game in the 37th minute when Henrikh Mkhitaryan drilled in a low shot that Kepa Arrizabalaga – the world’s most expensive goalkeeper making his home debut – will have been disappointed to have let in. Alex Iwobi made it 2-2 four minutes later as Arsenal exploited Chelsea’s vulnerability on the flanks.

But such was the strength of Arsenal’s rally that they could have scored six before the interval, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang particularly guilty, blasting one chance over with an open goal in front of him.

In a tighter second half, neither side could carve out as many chances but Alonso settled the game when Belgium winger Eden Hazard, on as a substitute, carved open the Arsenal defense for the Spanish defender to finish in Sarri’s first home game in charge.

“It is clear the result is not good for us but the process is continuing,” Emery said.

World Cup stars shine

After becoming the first Premier League side since the introduction of the summer transfer window to fail to sign a player, Spurs were dealt another blow off the field in midweek with the news their new 62,000-capacity stadium won't be ready until at least October.

Lucas Moura curled home his first Premier League goal to give Spurs the lead, but Aleksandar Mitrovic deservedly headed Fulham level early in the second half.

Tottenham may still be suffering a World Cup hangover with the majority of their stars enjoying barely a week of pre-season training after their efforts in Russia.

Harry Kane finally breaks his "August curse" after finding the net in Tottenham's clash with Fulham. /VCG Photo

But it was two of England's World Cup heroes who produced the goods as Kieran Trippier curled home a wonderful free-kick before Kane finally ended his wait to score in the opening month of the season on his 15th attempt in the Premier League.

"We dominated the first 30 minutes and created a lot of chances, but in the Premier League if you drop your level it can let in the other team," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

In contrast to Spurs, West Ham splurged nearly 100 million US dollars in the transfer market to back new manager Manuel Pellegrini but still have no points to show for it after a second-half surrender to Bournemouth.

Marko Arnautovic's penalty gave the hosts a half-time lead, and two goals in six minutes turned the game on its head, as Callum Wilson and Steve Cook made it two wins from two for the Cherries.

Everton's revolution under Marco Silva gained more momentum at Goodison Park with new signing Richarlison scoring his third goal in two games.

Wolves shared the points in a four-goal thriller with Everton last weekend, but despite much hype and expectation after a summer of heavy investment, they remain winless after losing 2-0 at 10-man Leicester.

Cardiff and Newcastle both registered their first point of the season in a drab 0-0 draw in the Welsh capital in a missed opportunity for both sides.

(With input from agencies)