Romelu Lukaku scored his first ever Chelsea goal – almost a decade after his debut – as Thomas Tuchel’s team deservedly beat Arsenal.
Lukaku, who was at Chelsea as a teenager, started at the Emirates after his £97.5m signing from Inter Milan and looks to have given the Blues an ominous new dimension.
His hold-up and link-up play caused Arsenal problems all day – and the Belgian duly gave them the lead.
Lukaku was involved in the build-up and then finished the move from close range into an empty net from Reece James’ pass.
James got the second himself as he slammed the ball into the roof of the net from Mason Mount’s pass to make it two wins from two in the league.
Lukaku almost made it 3-0 but his header was tipped onto the bar by Bernd Leno.
Arsenal, missing centre-back Ben White through Covid, have now lost more London derbies in the Premier League this season than last – after just two games.
It is only the third time Arsenal have lost their opening two Premier League matches in a season.
Has Lukaku made Chelsea the complete package?
European champions Chelsea were already being tipped as major title contenders, having been one of the best teams around since Tuchel’s arrival in January.
The one thing they lacked last season was a prolific goalscorer – but they now have that in Lukaku.
Five days short of a decade after his Chelsea debut, this was his 16th appearance for the club – having been at West Brom, Everton, Manchester United and Inter Milan in the interim.
And he gives the Blues a focal point up top and the clinical finisher that they have missed.
The 28-year-old opened the scoring when he held the ball up before playing it to Kovacic and then leaving Pablo Mari on the turf as he raced into the six-yard box to finish from James’ cross.
He was also tackled by Granit Xhaka in the build-up to the second goal.
Chelsea could have had more goals – with Lukaku having eight of their 22 efforts himself – including the one Leno tipped onto the woodwork.
Kai Havertz went close to a third as well from Lukaku’s pass but Leno stopped his shot with his legs.
The worry for Chelsea’s title rivals will be in trying to find any weaknesses.
Their defence is almost unbreachable at times, midfielders N’Golo Kante – who was a second-half substitute – and Jorginho are two-thirds of the shortlist for the Uefa player of the year award, and Mount and Kai Havertz support Lukaku up front.
Next up will be their biggest test of the season yet, away to Liverpool – who are also on six points – on Saturday.
More to follow.
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Arsenal
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Squad number14Player nameAubameyang
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Squad number20Player nameTavares
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Squad number26Player nameBalogun
Chelsea
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Squad number16Player nameMendy
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Squad number28Player nameAzpilicueta
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Squad number4Player nameChristensen
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Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
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Squad number24Player nameJames
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Squad number5Player nameJorginho
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Squad number8Player nameKovacic
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Squad number3Player nameAlonso
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Squad number19Player nameMount
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Squad number29Player nameHavertz
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Squad number9Player nameLukaku
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Squad number7Player nameKanté
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Squad number11Player nameWerner
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Squad number22Player nameZiyech
Line-ups
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Leno
- 17Cédric Soares
- 16HoldingBooked at 45mins
- 22MaríBooked at 34mins
- 3TierneySubstituted forTavaresat 66′minutes
- 23Sambi LokongaBooked at 67mins
- 34Xhaka
- 19Pépé
- 10Smith Rowe
- 7SakaSubstituted forAubameyangat 61′minutes
- 35MartinelliSubstituted forBalogunat 79′minutes
Substitutes
- 14Aubameyang
- 15Maitland-Niles
- 20Tavares
- 21Chambers
- 24Nelson
- 25Elneny
- 26Balogun
- 31Kolasinac
- 32Ramsdale
Chelsea
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 16Mendy
- 28Azpilicueta
- 4Christensen
- 2Rüdiger
- 24James
- 5Jorginho
- 8KovacicSubstituted forKantéat 72′minutes
- 3Alonso
- 19MountSubstituted forZiyechat 82′minutes
- 29HavertzSubstituted forWernerat 90′minutes
- 9Lukaku
Substitutes
- 1Arrizabalaga
- 6Thiago Silva
- 7Kanté
- 11Werner
- 14Chalobah
- 15Zouma
- 20Hudson-Odoi
- 21Chilwell
- 22Ziyech
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
- Attendance:
- 58,729
Live Text
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Match ends, Arsenal 0, Chelsea 2.
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Second Half ends, Arsenal 0, Chelsea 2.
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N’Golo Kanté (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Granit Xhaka (Arsenal).
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Reece James (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Granit Xhaka (Arsenal).
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Attempt missed. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Marcos Alonso.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Timo Werner replaces Kai Havertz.
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Folarin Balogun.
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Rob Holding.
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Attempt blocked. Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jorginho.
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Attempt saved. Kai Havertz (Chelsea) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Romelu Lukaku.
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Corner, Arsenal. Conceded by Reece James.
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Substitution, Chelsea. Hakim Ziyech replaces Mason Mount.
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Reece James (Chelsea) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Granit Xhaka (Arsenal).
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Attempt blocked. Reece James (Chelsea) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked.
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Substitution, Arsenal. Folarin Balogun replaces Gabriel Martinelli because of an injury.
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Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Rob Holding.
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Attempt saved. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Mason Mount.
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