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‘They Are Hard to Beat’: Alonso Reacts as Arsenal Come from Behind to Defeat Chelsea

From Premium Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Outcome reported
  • Chelsea took the lead after 77 seconds through Morgan Rogers, but Arsenal rallied through Kai Havertz and Martin Ødegaard.
  • Arsenal remained perfect after three Premier League matches, moving to nine points alongside Manchester City, while Chelsea stayed on six.
  • Alonso called Arsenal difficult to beat but said Chelsea had chances to score more and must continue improving.

Chelsea began with a dream start at the Emirates Stadium, but Arsenal’s response preserved the champions’ perfect opening to the season. Morgan Rogers stunned the home crowd with a right-footed volley after only 77 seconds, giving Chelsea an early advantage.

Arsenal thought they had equalised soon afterward when Riccardo Calafiori scored following a goalmouth scramble. VAR ruled out the effort after finding Ezri Konsa, whose attempt had struck the post, offside.

They are hard to beat, they are hard to create chances (against), but we had three or four chances to score more than one goal. This is a process. It’s still early days for us.

· Xabi AlonsoThe Chelsea manager assessed Arsenal after his team lost 2-1 despite taking an early lead.

The hosts kept pressing and levelled in the 25th minute. Kai Havertz cut in from the right and sent a low left-footed shot beyond Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. Arsenal completed the comeback shortly after half-time, when Havertz dummied Christos Tzolis’ pass and Martin Ødegaard finished high into the net.

Chelsea pushed for an equaliser, and Estêvão came close when he tested David Raya. The Arsenal goalkeeper made an important save to protect his team’s lead.

Not happy that we couldn’t get anything but we need to keep calm and carry on.

· Xabi AlonsoAlonso said Chelsea must respond calmly after suffering their first league defeat under him.

“They are hard to beat, they are hard to create chances (against), but we had three or four chances to score more than one goal. This is a process. It’s still early days for us,” Alonso said. He added: “Not happy that we couldn’t get anything but we need to keep calm and carry on.”

It was a big game, massive game, tough opponent and we got there in the end so brilliant.

· Martin ØdegaardThe Arsenal captain praised his team’s comeback victory.

Ødegaard praised Arsenal’s reaction to conceding so quickly. “It was a big game, massive game, tough opponent and we got there in the end so brilliant,” the Arsenal captain said. “Our mentality is to keep fighting. We have shown that many times. We never want to concede early but the reaction is top.”

The defeat was Alonso’s first in the Premier League as Chelsea manager. He said the setback should not derail the squad’s progress and that the team remained committed to improving and competing in every match.

Our mentality is to keep fighting. We have shown that many times. We never want to concede early but the reaction is top.

· Martin ØdegaardØdegaard highlighted Arsenal’s response after conceding in the second minute.
About this summary

Originally published by Premium Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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