Chelsea and Arsenal played out a thrilling clash at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Maurizio Sarri winning his battle against fellow Premier League newcomer, Unai Emery, courtesy of a 3-2 victory.
The game saw both defences breached far too easily, with the hosts going 2-0 up within 20 minutes.
Spaniard Pedro opened the scoring on nine minutes, with the winger converting Marcos Alonso’s cross after the Gunners were alarmingly exposed at the back.
On 20 minutes, the hosts doubled their advantage, with Alvaro Morata turning Shkodran Mustafi far too easily before firing past Petr Cech.
However, despite looking characteristically flimsy at the back, Arsenal were a threat up front, frequently getting around the back of the Chelsea backline.
Indeed, just before Morata’s goal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang blasted over from close-range with the goal at his mercy.
Arsenal would score on 37 minutes, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who himself had missed another great chance, arrowed a left-footed shot past new goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Alex Iwobi leveled the scores soon as the north Londoners looked rampant.
In the second-half, Chelsea looked more solid, and they would eventually bag the winner, with Alonso firing home from an Eden Hazard pass to secure all three points in a thrilling derby clash.
The win makes it two defeats out of two for Emery, with the Arsenal defence needing major work, while Granit Xhaka continues to labour in midfield.
However, Emery’s decisive substitutions (he hauled off Xhaka and the equally ineffectual Ozil) along with Mattéo Guendouzi’s impressive displays hint at a positive future for the Gunners.
Sarri also has work to do with his defence, although in N’Golo Kanté and sub Eden Hazard, the Italian has two world class players capable of driving the Blues back to the top.